Karl Rove: Just Another Well Paid Peon for the American Un-Health Insurance Industry

Karl Rove, A Leading Member of the GOP Cognoscenti: Late 1900 Beliefs for the 21st Century

How quick witted those traditionalist, status quo supporting headline writers for the Wall Street Journal really are: The cons are afraid to admit how anxious everyday people are for serious health care reform so they use the tern "Obama Care" to thumb their noses at the overwhelming majority of Americans who want to see the failed health care system that is running our economy into the ground fixed once and for all time.

Delivering the cons message; whose sole purpose is to misinform and scare the American people to be thankful for the outlandishly expensive and unresponsive system that the un-health insurance industry has entrenched into the U S economy and into the accepting consciousness of a small but vocal portion of the American people is none other than un-health industry windbag, Karl Rove.

Karl Rove is a simple minded mouthpiece.whose sole purpose is to spread the propaganda crafted by the puppet masters of the un-health insurance industry. His sole job is to keep the lies coming for the corporate interests and plutocrats that control the GOP, which is nothing more than a sham creation of the powerful interests that steer the course of public policy in our nation.

Today's specific task for Rove is to portray President Obama as a weak, conniving  leader, whose health care reform is intended to turn the U S into a socialist country. Furthermore, Rove ridicules Obama as a president who is even unable to preside over his own party let alone the nation. The well-established backdrop from which Rove ply's his ad hominin attacks against Obama has already been established by the scores of other peons used by the plutocrats to such an extent that even the most outlandish claims against the president find believers throughout the lunatic right wing fringe constantly cultivated by the cons.

Obama outlandishly shown  in white face paint - Joker style with socialism written across bottom of the poster to reinforce the cons intended discrediting attacks on the president: Santi Tafarella’s blog on books, culture, and politics

What the nay saying cons are failing to perceive as they mount their election style activities against the reform of health care, is that typical Americans have grown weary of the perpetual political campaign that promotes divisiveness by relying on the promotion of distortion, negative attacks and hyped up name calling. The common theme behind the cons use of their attack, attack, attack strategy is that it lacks any positive or uplifting  themes for the general population to rally around.

President Obama as been quick to pick up on the cons overbearing negative style. When the president spoke before Congress last week he made it a point to denounce "the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government. "

 

President Obama giving his health care speech before Congress in early September 2009.

Since the speech, the Obama team has raised the intensity of their own campaign before the nation. Included in the administration's strategy is the inclusion of more presidential speeches, rallies, town hall meetings, the application of greater pressure tactics on up until now balking Congressional Democrats.

Meanwhile, Rove, like other Republicans, has no compelling, competitive vision to bring to the attention of Americans. Instead he is engaging his 'expertise' to issue critiques of the president's performance in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that focuses on Obama's appearance before Congress last week. Rove cites a Gallup Poll that "found that 38% of Americans say their representative should vote for ObamaCare--40% want their member to vote against it." Rove continued: "It was 37%-39% on the same question the day before Mr. Obama spoke." 

Rove then missed a chance to excoriate the president on his polling numbers and instead went off on a tangent and complained: "Part of Mr. Obama's problem is his language. His speech contained little new information and his tone was unpresidential. Instead of binding Americans to his cause, he called legitimate concerns "misinformation," "false," "demagoguery," "distortion" or "tall tales." Earlier in the week he declared them "lies." This was like calling people with concerns stupid, and it's not the way to win them over."

Rove then wasted several paragraphs of commentary to recite polling information that he believes should concern Obama and his Democratic colleagues. He then misrepresented last Sundays 9-12 con activist tea bag rally in Washington as some kind of ominous demonstration against health care reform. Then Rove boldly predicted of the rally; that: "If it keeps up, middle-class anxiety about the national debt could make 2010 a tough year for any Democrat up for re-election." Rove then adjusts his Wizard of Oz black top hat.

 The striking similarity between a wax statue of the character who portrayed the Wizard of Oz and Karl Rove the character who works tirelessly to create disinformation and fear!  

and declares with the type of dead reckoning precision that only Karl Rove possesses: "Mr. Obama will appear on five news shows on Sunday. His time might be better spent praying for more public support." Wow! Talk about bold predictions and devastating attacks! Rove once again proves himself without equal in the universe of political punditry!

When one of the top guns for hire available to the GOP takes such a bland tact against Obama; it leaves political observers to ponder just how little ammunition the cons have left to battle Obama and the Democrats on the national health care initiative.

Turdblossom

Joe Wilson, Heckling Republican Congressman from South Carolina and His Fellow Members of the GOP Didn't React in Such a 'Grand' Style to President Obama's Speech on Health Care Reform

"President Obama sought to reframe the contentious debate over health care on Wednesday, asking a divided Congress and a skeptical nation to reach consensus on legislation to expand coverage to millions of Americans and lower costs through an ambitious overhaul that has eluded lawmakers for generations."

Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

 

"The speech was an effort by Mr. Obama to regain his political footing on health care, the centerpiece of his domestic agenda. After months of insisting he would leave the details to lawmakers, he presented his most detailed outline yet of his own plan, which he said would provide "security and stability" to those who have insurance and cover those who do not, all without adding to the federal deficit."

Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times

At 8:40 pm, last night, during President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress about his health care program, the American people were given yet another example of the ongoing deterioration of relations between the nation's two political parties.



"You Lie!" shouted Representative Joe Wilson a Republican back bencher from South Carolina in response to the president's remarks about illegal aliens. President Obama had just "vowed to lawmakers that his health-care reform proposals would not provide benefits to illegal immigrants."

"Murmurs of "ooh" filled the stunned chamber. Nancy Pelosi's chin dropped. Obama moved on to the next sentence in his speech, about how no federal money would be used to fund abortion. "Not true!" came another shout."

Wilson's breach of decorum was imitated by other Republicans: "There was booing from House Republicans when the president caricatured a conservative argument by saying they would "leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own." They hissed when he protested their "scare tactics." They grumbled ... when Obama spoke of the "blizzard of charges and countercharges."

"Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina, leaning forward, received criticism for yelling, “You lie!” at the president."

"Democrats said, according to Carl Hulse of The New York Times that "it showed lack of respect for the office of the presidency and was reminiscent of Republican disruptions at recent public forums on health care.

“I was embarrassed for the chamber and a Congress I love,” Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Thursday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “It demeaned the institution.”

"Biden said that he had not spoken to President Obama since the speech. But, “knowing the president, I’m sure he accepted the apology,” The Associated Press reported.

"After the speech, Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff who sat a few rows in front of Mr. Wilson, said he immediately approached senior Republican lawmakers to encourage them to identify the heckler and urge him to issue an apology quickly.

“No president has ever been treated like that. Ever,” Mr. Emanuel said.

Carl Hulse also reported in The New York Times that: "Other Democrats said they did not want to dwell on the outburst or allow it to overshadow what they saw as an effective address by the president. But they also said it bolstered their contention that some Republicans were not interested in constructive dialogue, and they noted that Democratic plans specifically barred coverage for illegal immigrants." 

After the speech, Carl Hulse reported that: "Republicans also said the heckling was out of line. “I think we ought to treat the president with respect,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, “and anything other than that is not appropriate.”

"Republicans held up their own version of a health care bill in protest on Wednesday night during President Obama's address, in which he vowed to cap costs at $900 billion. Mr. Obama made clear in his speech that he would have little tolerance for Republicans who were determined to defeat him. "I will not waste time," he said, "with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than improve it."

Photo: Luke Sharrett/The New York Times

"And the House Republican whip," Carl Hulse reported that: "Eric I. Cantor of Virginia, told ABC on Thursday: “Obviously, the president of the United States is always welcome on Capitol Hill. He deserves respect and decorum.” He said that Mr. Wilson’s apology “was the appropriate thing to do.”

By Thursday, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the House Democratic leader was calling for Representative Wilson "to apologize to the House," Carl Hulse reported.

Later Thursday, Congressman Wilson's office released a statement that read in part: "This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the president’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility.”

Richard Simon of the LA Times reported that: "House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, a Democrat from Wilson's home state, said that he planned to push for a resolution expressing disapproval of the incident unless Wilson issued a public apology on the House floor.

Simon also added that: "Rob Miller -- the Democratic challenger for Wilson's House seat -- raked in 14,000-plus contributions totaling more than $500,000 since the Wednesday night outburst, according to the House Democratic Campaign Committee. The committee also has cited the shout-out in a fundraising appeal: "Calling the president of the United States a liar in front of the nation is a new low even for House Republicans."

"Robert Oldendick, Simon added; "a political science professor at the University of South Carolina, on Thursday described reaction within the state to Wilson's outburst as "surprise and strong disapproval."

"But whether it will hurt the lawmaker at home is uncertain," explained Simon in his reaction to Oldendick's assessment.

"There are 14 months for people's memories of this to fade before the election -- although I'm sure they'll be reminded by opposition campaign ads," Oldendick said. "While the reaction here has been pretty strongly negative, I don't get the sense that Wilson will be severely damaged.

"And he may, over time, be able to turn this mistake into his 'passionate opposition' to a plan that he felt was so wrong," Simon quoted Oldendick.

"For Mr. Obama, the speech was a go-for-broke moment; there is no more dramatic venue for a president than an address to a joint session to Congress. For many Democrats, the speech evoked memories of a similar health care address by President Bill Clinton, 16 years ago this month. Mr. Clinton called for "security, simplicity, savings, choice, quality and responsibility" - the same broad themes Mr. Obama evoked Wednesday night."

Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times

Health Care Plan Takes Shape as Congressional Democrats Pledge To Implement Legislative Action

Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is responsible for driving health-care legislation. Baucus has put together a Bipartisan Deal That Will Seek the Implementation of a $900B Health-Care Program.

Citing that the majority of the necessary legislative work for health care has already been accomplished, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada was one of several Democratic Congressional leaders to make their opinions known to President Obama. Speaking on behalf of Congressional Democrats, Speaker of the House Pelosi is convinced she's got the votes to deliver the sweeping overhaul favored by Obama. Included among  key Senate Democrats to speak with the president was Senator Max Baucus of Montana who has crafted a version of health care compromise legislation that he is ready to push through the Senate.

“We are not going to dally. We are not going to dawdle,” Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and chairman of the Finance Committee, said after a meeting with five fellow architects of his compromise legislation.

“Time is running out very quickly,” Mr. Baucus added. A key to Senator Baucus' compromise plans success Republican Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, has been quick to offer some positive assessments of the proposal crafted by Senator Baucus but she has also added that she believes that there are some adjustments still need to be made.

White House officials have been circulating the scenario that President Obama plans to discuss more details that he hopes will appear in a final version of health care when he speaks before Congress Wednesday night. In addition, Obama will use the speech to the American people to explain the need for an overhaul of the nation's health care system.

"The main audience is the American people and their stake in this," said Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff.

White House officials believe that by making his address before a joint session of Congress, President Obama will be using a venue that will allow him to have the time necessary to achieve a greater focus on the issues involved in creating health care reform for the American people.

“This is a topic that probably takes some time to walk through,” Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said. One part of the speech, Mr. Gibbs said, would be devoted to “understanding what the public option is and what the public option isn’t.” Republicans said Democrats have misread the true opinions of Americans who used Town Hall meetings to question many parts of the Obama/Democratic plan. “The American people are asking us to start over,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader. “They want reforms, but they want the right reforms.”

The Baucus plan that has emerged from conference committee, incorporates a substantial number of adjustments to the way private insurance and Medicare are currently operated.One significant change has levied fees against the drug industry to begin making payments in 2010 that would begin at a cost of $2.3 billion a year and would be assessed according to each company's share in the medical marketplace.

Senator Baucus has also raised the discount rate required of companies in the drug sector that deal directly with Medicaid recipients. The Baucus legislation increases patients rebates from 15.1 percent to 23.1 percent. In the instance of generic drugs rebates would rise to recipients from 11 percent to 13 percent.

The Baucus bill requires that every American would be mandated to have health insurance coverage. Keeping in mind that the poverty level is $10,830 for an individual and $22,050 for a family of four; penalties would be assessed on a sliding scale that would require a penalty of  $750 a year per person for those who earned from 100 percent to 300 percent above the poverty level, while taxpayers with incomes greater than 300 percent above the poverty level would be charged a fine of $950 per person. For families in the100 percent to 300 percent above the poverty level bracket the charge for failing to have coverage would be a maximum penalty of $1,500 for a family and for families above the 300 percent bracket, a maximum penalty of $3,800 for a family would apply.

The New York Times reporters; Carl Hulse and Robert Pear point out that: "Employers would not be required to offer insurance coverage to their employees. But companies that did not would have to pay a fee for each low-income employee who received a subsidy, in the form of a tax credit, for coverage bought through a health insurance exchange. The maximum assessment on employers would be equal to $400 multiplied by the total number of employees."

Several important points need to be considered as Obama and the Congressional Democrats ready for their push to achieve health care reform. Among the points to include in any analysis of the state of health care reform are as follows: the many cantankerous at times Town Hall meetings did very little to change public support for reform or fragment Democratic resolve; insurance industry lobbyist remain at the negotiating table because their have failed to turn the public against health care restructuring; the Democrats remain committed as a party despite seeming public disagreements; health care legislation has passed most of its Congressional committee hurdles and is preparing to make it's way to the floor for voting to begin; the markups include protections from insurance companies from barring coverage for pre-existing medical conditions; lifetime caps on coverage have been eliminated and individuals cannot be dropped when they become ill; in the Senate Obama seems close to securing 60 votes for passage.

With this in mind there are still several obstacles facing Obama; the legislative package is extremely complex and large; Republicans and their business allies will do everything possible to corrupt the legislative process; and complaints raised among loud voices in the public arena to stop government from expanding are ever present.

A positive sign for the Democrats is that the health industry has stayed involved in the negotiating process.

An even more important reality concerning revamping the health care industry is that the public, although many have raised concerns about specifics of the plan, remain prepared to contribute their support to help build the broad coalition needed to make health care reform a reality.

President Obama's Speech on the Economy

Click here for President Obama's remarks:

David Stout and Peter Baker wrote for the New York Times{ "President Obama said on Tuesday that the battered economy was showing signs of recovery, but he warned Americans that more pain lies ahead and urged them to help build a foundation for a new, 21st century prosperity.

"Speaking just after a disappointing report on March retail sales made it clear that a sustained recovery is not yet at hand, the president delivered a speech that was part pep talk and part rebuke, not only for the once high-rolling members of the financial world but for politicians who he said had deferred tough decisions for too long.

“I want every American to know that each action we take and each policy we pursue is driven by a larger vision of America’s future,” Mr. Obama said in remarks at Georgetown University.

"The White House had previewed the event as a “major speech” on the economy, but Mr. Obama did not break new ground. He did, however, use the occasion to reaffirm his determination to do something about the rising cost of health care and, later, to shore up Social Security.

"The president seemed to guard against being tagged as a “liberal.” For instance, he defended his administration’s decision not to take over failing banks: “Governments should practice the same principle as doctors: first, do no harm.” And at another point, he invoked religious imagery.

"The president envisioned “a future where sustained economic growth creates good jobs and rising incomes; a future where prosperity is fueled not by excessive debt, reckless speculation and fleeing profit, but is instead built by skilled, productive workers; by sound investments that will spread opportunity at home and allow this nation to lead the world in the technologies, innovations and discoveries that will shape the 21st century.”

“That is the future I see. That is the future I know we can have.”

"But the near future will bring “more job loss, more foreclosures and more pain before it ends,” Mr. Obama said. Underscoring his point was a Commerce Department report showing that consumer spending on a wide array of goods declined in March, reflecting a general spirit of uncertainty as well as continuing job losses.

"The president said, as he has repeatedly, that the recently enacted stimulus plan, the efforts to strengthen the banking system and attempts to rescue the flagging American auto industry have all borne fruit, demonstrated in part by an increase in home-mortgage refinancing and more lending by small businesses.

“This is all welcome and encouraging news, but it does not mean that hard times are over,” Mr. Obama said, warning that 2009 will be a difficult year, and that no one should expect a return to full prosperity soon.

"As the president spoke, the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told an audience at Morehouse College in Atlanta that there were “tentative signs” that the decline in the economy was slowing.

"President Obama called on Americans to take the long view. “There is no doubt that times are still tough,” he said. “By no means are we out of the woods just yet. But from where we stand, for the very first time, we are beginning to see glimmers of hope. And beyond that, way off in the distance, we can see a vision of an America’s future that is far different than our troubled economic past.”

"Realizing that vision will require a new regulatory structure, one based on 21st century needs rather than an outdated financial buccaneer ethic, the president said. It will also require work on deep, complicated issues like health care and energy, he said.

"As Mr. Obama spoke inside Georgetown’s Gaston Hall, a small group of abortion opponents demonstrated outside against the presence at a Catholic university of a president who supports abortion rights. Using a bullhorn, the protesters could sometimes be heard faintly in the back of the hall during the president’s speech. (There have been similar protests at Notre Dame, where the president is to speak at commencement exercises on May 17.) Mr. Obama, alluding to a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, said he saw a new America whose foundations are built not on sand but on rock, “proud, sturdy and unwavering in the face of the greatest storm.”

“We will not finish it in one year or even many,” he said, “but if we use this moment to lay that new foundation, if we come together and begin the hard work of rebuilding, if we persist and persevere against the disappointments and setbacks that will surely lie ahead, then I have no doubt that this house will stand and the dream of our founders will live on in our time.”

New New York Times/CBS News Poll Shows Growth in Confidence and Optimism Among Americans About Economic Upturn and Nation's Direction Under Obama

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll shows that: "Americans have grown more optimistic about the economy and the direction of the country in the 11 weeks since President Obama was inaugurated, suggesting that he is enjoying some success in his critical task of rebuilding the nation’s confidence."

Republican attacks and the efforts of a new administration under tremendous pressure to succeed have not had a deleterious effect on the leadership abilities of President Obama as: "Americans said they approved of Mr. Obama’s handling of the economy, foreign policy, Iraq and Afghanistan; fully two-thirds said they approved of his overall job performance."

The president's optimistic reception did not extend to Republican politicians as: "just 31 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the Republican Party, the lowest in the 25 years the question has been asked in New York Times/CBS News polls."

In summarizing some of the results; The New York Times: "found that 70 percent of respondents were very or somewhat concerned that someone in their household would be out of work and looking for a job in the next 12 months. Forty percent said they had cut spending on luxuries, and 10 percent said they had cut back on necessities; 31 percent said they had cut both.

The New York Times also determined: "For all that, the number of people who said they thought the country was headed in the right direction jumped from 15 percent in mid-January, just before Mr. Obama took office, to 39 percent today, while the number who said it was headed in the wrong direction dropped to 53 percent from 79 percent. That is the highest percentage of Americans who said the country was headed in the right direction since 42 percent said so in February 2005, the second month of President George W. Bush’s second term."

The New York Times predicted that: "With the poll finding that an overwhelming number think the recession will last a year or more, Mr. Obama may find he has a deep well of patience to draw on. The poll found that he shoulders virtually none of the public blame for the economic crisis: 33 percent blame Mr. Bush, 21 percent blame financial institutions, and 11 percent blame Congress."

The New York Times continued to discuss it's findings: "By more than three to one, voters said they trusted Mr. Obama more than they trusted Congressional Republicans to make the right decisions about the economy. And by more than two to one, they said they trusted Mr. Obama to keep the nation safe, typically a Republican strong suit. Nearly one-quarter of Republicans said they trusted Mr. Obama more than Congressional Republicans to make the right decisions about the economy."

The New York Times delved into the nation's political divisions to explain that: "The poll showed signs of continued political division: 57 percent of people who said they voted for Senator John McCain in November said they disapproved of Mr. Obama’s performance. While Mr. Obama’s budget proposal enjoys the support of 56 percent of Americans over all, sentiments splinter along party lines: 79 percent of Democrats said his budget had the right priorities, compared with 27 percent of Republicans."

The New York Times pointed out several reservations that Americans have with President Obama's policies: "Even as Americans strongly support Mr. Obama, they do not necessarily support all of his initiatives. For example, 58 percent disapprove of his proposal to bail out banks. But the percentage of respondents who said they thought it would benefit all Americans, rather than only bankers, jumped from 29 percent in February to 47 percent now, signaling that the White House might be making progress in changing perceptions of the plan."

"And as Mr. Obama has proposed a vast expansion in spending and programs, 48 percent of Americans said they preferred a smaller government providing fewer services, while 41 percent preferred a bigger government with more services."

"Americans remain concerned about the growing national debt being passed on to future generations," according to the survey "but in the face of the current economic troubles, they are divided over whether it is necessary to increase debt. Forty-six percent said the government should not incur further debt, but 45 percent said the government should spend money to stimulate the economy even though it would increase the budget deficit."

As far as Americans view of Wall Street and his increase in tax rates on people in the highest income brackets the poll showed: "Amid evidence of a surge of populism in response to abuses on Wall Street, respondents said by more than two to one that Democrats cared more about the needs of people like themselves than Republicans did. Seventy-one percent of Americans said Mr. Obama cared more about the interests of ordinary people than about large corporations."

"Mr. Obama’s push to increase income taxes on people making over $250,000 a year was supported by 74 percent of respondents. When presented with the possibility that taxing those in the higher income bracket might hurt the economy, 39 percent of those polled still backed the plan.

President Obama's first European Trip a Rousing Success

President Obama started his day at the G20 Summit by meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street. The President and Prime Minister Brown will host a news conference later in the day.

IN THE FIELD: US President Barack Obama urged G20 countries meeting on Thursday to focus on common ground to resolve the global financial crisis. This comes as British PM Gordon Brown warned that the summit would entail tough negotiations.

Speaking in a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Barack Obama said Russia and the United States have "a broad set of common interests."

IN THE PAPERS: the French president Sarkozy has threatened to walk out on the G20 if the US refuses a deal to tighten global regulation. The Russian president Medvedev calls for the introduction of a world superanational reserve currency to replace the dollar. Obama and Brown call for united actions.

The first ever eye-to-eye meeting between Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama has shown there are signs of thawing in Russia-US relations, and that the two states are ready to push the reset button

Peter Cook of Bloomberg News with the update as President Obama is set to take press questions today.

CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk on competing interests at the G20 Summit

"In his first full day in Europe, President Obama conceded Wednesday that the United States had “some accounting to do” for failures that led to the world’s financial crisis, even as he tried to brush past heavy pressure from Germany and France to accept global financial regulations that could reach well inside American borders."

"Speaking on the eve of a summit meeting here to address the financial crisis, Mr. Obama acknowledged that regulatory failures in the United States had a role in the meltdown, but he urged world leaders to focus on solutions rather than on placing blame. He also cautioned that the United States was unlikely to return to its role as a “voracious consumer market,” and he urged other nations to do more to revive growth in their home markets."

"Despite calls for unity from Mr. Obama and the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, the host of the Group of 20 meeting that will formally begin Thursday, a rift intensified over Anglo-American calls for greater fiscal stimulus spending and French and German demands for more intrusive global regulation of financial institutions."

"While President Nicolas Sarkozy of France did not repeat an earlier threat to walk out of the conference — “I just got here,” he joked — he made it clear he would reject an agreement that puts off stringent new regulations on banks, tax havens, and hedge funds."

“The decisions need to be taken now, today and tomorrow,” he said. “This has nothing to do with ego. This has nothing to do with temper tantrums. When it comes to historic moments, you can’t circumvent them.”

"Mr. Sarkozy added that tougher regulation — he has called for a “global regulator” that would be able to reach inside the borders of the United States and other large nations to deal with international financial firms — is “nonnegotiable.”

“The compromise has to come from all countries around the world,” he said. Saying he trusted Mr. Obama, Mr. Sarkozy said he did not want to point fingers about the crisis. But then, in a verbal jab he has used before, he added, “The crisis didn’t actually spontaneously erupt in Europe.”

"Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany rejected Mr. Obama’s plea for other nations to follow America’s lead and pledge greater fiscal spending to stimulate their economies. She said more spending was not worth debating. “That is not a bargaining chip,” she said, adding, by contrast, “Regulation is something that is in everyone’s interest.”

"By the time Mr. Obama ended his evening at Buckingham Palace and a working dinner for the leaders assembling here — representing a group as diverse as the established European powers and Japan to Indonesia, India, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands — it appeared likely that countries would divide into two or three camps."

"The United States, Britain and Japan will push for more immediate stimulus and “systemic risk” regulators that mostly operate within national borders; Germany and France will push the opposite position, probably with some support from the Czech Republic."

"That leaves China and Russia, among others, to exploit the division to play a significant role, though if tradition holds the major differences are likely to be smoothed out in wording in a final communique that each country interprets differently."

"Mr. Obama and Mr. Brown used a joint news conference earlier in the day to emphasize that differences with France and Germany were “vastly overstated.”

"Mr. Brown argued that the world had learned the hard lessons of a similar summit meeting here in 1933, which ended in failure. That outcome will not be repeated, Mr. Brown argued."

"Mr. Obama also met for the first time with President Hu Jintao of China, the nation that is essentially being asked to bankroll much of the upward of $2 trillion in deficits the United States will run up this year to finance its recovery package, bailouts for Wall Street and Detroit, and two wars."

"But in a meeting that American officials described as “businesslike” Mr. Hu apparently said nothing about previous Chinese cautions that the country would have to be convinced that the United States had a long-term plan to bring down its deficits before it invested more heavily in American securities."

"In essence, the United States is pressing Europe and other nations to spend more now — when a coordinated stimulus could do the most good. But over the long term, Mr. Obama appeared to be preparing the world for a reshaped global economy in which the United States no longer was the ultimate export market for the world’s established and emerging powers."

"Speaking alongside Mr. Brown after the two men met, Mr. Obama warned against returning the United States to the habits of the past decade, and the twin trade and budget deficits they created."

“The United States will do its share,” he said, “but I think that one of the things that Gordon and I spoke about is the fact that in some ways the world has become accustomed to the United States being a voracious consumer market and the engine that drives a lot of economic growth worldwide. And I think that in the wake of this crisis, even as we’re doing stimulus, we have to take into account our own deficits.”

"He said he and fellow leaders had an “enormous consensus” on the need to take bold steps to revive growth, and urged them to focus on what they can achieve at home. “If there is going to be renewed growth it can’t just be the United States as the engine, everybody is going to have to pick up the pace,” he said.

"But Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy laid out a different argument: that the United States had only now begun to understand the cost of poorly regulated free-market capitalism, and must now bow to the European model. “The foundation for this new financial architecture must be laid now,” Mrs. Merkel said. “That is why we seem to be so tough.”

"The German chancellor, who is scheduled to met Mr. Obama one-on-one this weekend, rejected attempts to link the American and British demands for fiscal stimulus programs to the French and German agenda on regulations. Although Germany did carry out a reasonably large stimulus package this year, it has not agreed to one for 2010."

"Mr. Sarkozy said France had made a gesture to the United States by rejoining the command structure of the NATO alliance, and he implied that the United States needed to make a similar gesture in the regulatory arena."

Helene Cooper reported from London and Alan Cowell from Paris. Matthew Saltmarsh contributed reporting from Paris and Julia Werdigier and Mark Landler from London.

President Obama Signs the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 into Law

Please click here to read a copy of the president's remarks provided by the White House and published in The New York Times.

President Obama's historic signing of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 was completed yesterday in a ceremony at the White House.

The Omnibus bill is actually a "compilation of natural wilderness Acts to designate certain land as components of the Natural Wilderness Preservation System and it authorizes the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture to participate in specified programs and activities concerning natural wilderness, rivers, boundary line adjustments, and much more." The bill actually protects "more than two million acres as wilderness and creating a new national system to conserve land held by the Bureau of Land Management."

The White House called the bill "one of the most sweeping pieces of conservation and public land management legislation in years."

Before the bill signing by President Obama Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar made some prefatory remarks:

"Over the last two centuries, America’s best ideas for protecting our vast lands and open spaces have often arrived while our country has faced its greatest trials.

"It was in the midst of our nation’s bloodiest conflict – the Civil War – that President Abraham Lincoln set aside the lands that are now Yosemite National Park.

"It was at the dawn of the 20th century, with our cities and industries growing and our open lands and watersheds disappearing, that President Teddy Roosevelt expanded our national parks and set aside the world’s largest system of lands dedicated to wildlife conservation, the national wildlife refuge system.

"And it was in the darkest days of the Great Depression that President Franklin Roosevelt put three million young Americans to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps. They built the trails, campgrounds, parks, and conservation projects we enjoy today.

"In these moments when our national character is most tested we rightly seek to protect that which fuels our spirit.

"For America’s national character - our optimism, our dreams, our shared stories – are rooted in our landscapes. "

The bill represents a collection of 170 specific and different bills that

can easily be considered a milestone in environmental legislation.

As Jean Williams, the Seattle Environmental Policy Examiner notes: "Now, President Obama is signing a law that will expand protection to over 160 other wilderness components, including the following:

"Oregon Badlands Wilderness Act to protect 30,000 acres of desert wilderness in Central
Oregon.

"Spring Basin Wilderness Act to protect 8,600 acres of scenic wilderness long the John
Day River in Central Oregon.

"Copper Salmon Wilderness Act of Oregon to protect 13,000 acres of old growth forest
along the head of the Elk River; one of the most prolific salmon fisheries in the west.

"Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Voluntary and Equitable Grazing Conflict Resolution Act of Oregon to protect 23,000 acres of pristine flowering meadows and old growth forests and insure voluntary relinquishment of grazing permits.

"Owyhee Public Lands Management Act 2007 of Idaho to protect over a half million acres of wilderness and 315 miles of streams and rivers in the scenic high desert country along the Owyhee River.

"National landscape Conservation System Act that has designated 26 million acres of “crown jewels” administered by the Bureau of Land Management from Alaska to the southern tip of Florida."

When President Obama spoke he said:

"As Americans, we possess few blessings greater than the vast and varied landscapes that stretch the breadth of our continent. Our lands have always provided great bounty -- food and shelter for the first Americans, for settlers and pioneers; the raw materials that grew our industry; the energy that powers our economy.

"What these gifts require in return is our wise and responsible stewardship. As our greatest conservationist President, Teddy Roosevelt, put it almost a century ago, "I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us."

"That's the spirit behind the bipartisan legislation I'm signing today -- legislation among the most important in decades to protect, preserve, and pass down our nation’s most treasured landscapes to future generations."P

President Obama noted, that "another hopeful element to the legislation, namely the Christopher and Dana Reeve's Paralysis Act, which boosts research and rehabilitation for paralysis:"

"That's the mission of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. In the lobby of their facility in New Jersey sits Christopher’s empty wheelchair. And his son, Matthew Reeve, was once asked if the sight of it ever saddened him, and he replied no. He said, "Empty chairs -- that was Dad's goal," he said. "We hope there will be many more of them."

"Matthew is here with us today. And the legislation I'm about to sign makes solid progress toward the realization of that hope and the promise of a brighter future."

President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to Block A.I.G. Bonuses

For more information regarding the White House Blog's explanation of the President's invitation to "small business owners to the East Wing of the White House to discuss ways the government could help them stay above water," click here.

Later in the day President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner met to sharply criticize "the greed and excess displayed in reports of tens of millions of dollars in bonuses being given out to employees of AIG,"

President Obama was particularly sharp tongued against the excesses of executives of AIG:

"I've asked Secretary Geithner to use that leverage and pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole. (Applause.) I want everybody to be clear that Secretary Geithner has been on the case. He's working to resolve this matter with the new CEO, Edward Liddy -- who, by the way, everybody needs to understand came on board after the contracts that led to these bonuses were agreed to last year.

"But I think Mr. Liddy and certainly everybody involved needs to understand this is not just a matter of dollars and cents. It's about our fundamental values. All across the country, there are people who are working hard and meeting their responsibilities every day, without the benefit of government bailouts or multi-million dollar bonuses. You've got a bunch of small business people here who are struggling just to keep their credit line open -- that they are foregoing pay, as one of our entrepreneurs talked about, they are in some cases mortgaging their homes, and doing a whole host of things just in order to keep things afloat. All they ask is that everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, play by the same rules. And that is an ethic that we have to demand.

"And what this situation also underscores is the need for overall financial regulatory reform, so we don't find ourselves in this position again, and for some form of resolution mechanism in dealing with troubled financial institutions, so that we've got greater authority to protect American taxpayers and our financial system in cases such as this."

Later in the day, a White House official disclosed that the administration would use a pending $30 billion installment for A.I.G. to recoup the $165 million in retention payments to A.I.G. employees in the business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year.

“Treasury will be using this facility to address the excessive retention payments made to the A.I.G. Financial Products employees, which Treasury found to be completely unacceptable given that A.I.G. is already surviving on taxpayer funds,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Treasury will be adding provisions to its new facility aimed at making taxpayers whole for the amounts of the offensive payments.”

A variety of "repayment options" are under consideration according to administration officials.

"Later in the day," according to the New York Times, "a White House official disclosed that the administration would use a pending $30 billion installment for A.I.G. to recoup the $165 million in retention payments to A.I.G. employees in the business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year.

“Treasury will be using this facility to address the excessive retention payments made to the A.I.G. Financial Products employees, which Treasury found to be completely unacceptable given that A.I.G. is already surviving on taxpayer funds,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Treasury will be adding provisions to its new facility aimed at making taxpayers whole for the amounts of the offensive payments.”

"White House officials said that the administration is not looking to take A.I.G. to court to stop the company from paying out the bonuses. But they said the Treasury Department would be trying to figure out what it can do to block A.I.G. from making the payments within the legal confines of A.I.G.’s contractual obligations to the executives."

"The sharp presidential rebuke of A.I.G. is part of the White House effort to distance itself from abuses that could feed potentially disruptive public anger," explained The New York Times. "Mr. Obama’s aides are worried that such anger could make it more difficult to win Congressional approval for the additional bailout packages that Mr. Obama has signaled may be necessary to stabilize the banking system. Already there have been moves in Congress to limit compensation for executives at banks and Wall Street firms that are receiving government help to survive."

"Still, the president’s directive to his Treasury secretary to “pursue every legal avenue” against the payments seemed to conflict with statements over the weekend from the Treasury Department and from Lawrence H. Summers," The New York Times explained. "Mr. Obama’s chief economic adviser in the White House, that the Treasury already had reviewed its legal options and concluded the administration had no power to stop the payments."

“We are a country of law,” Mr. Summers said on ABC-TV’s Sunday show. “This Week”:There are contracts. The government cannot just abrogate contracts. Every legal step possible to limit those bonuses is being taken by Secretary Geithner and by the Federal Reserve system,”

"But increasing the pressure on A.I.G., New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday that he would issue subpoenas to make the insurer release the names of the executives in its Financial Products subsidiary who received the bonuses, which were paid on Friday; their job descriptions, and details about their performance. In a letter to Edward M. Liddy, the company’s current chief executive, Mr. Cuomo said that if he did not receive the information by 4 p.m. he would issue subpoenas demanding compliance. After that deadline passed, Mr. Cuomo said that he had not received information he was seeking and would issue subpoenas for the data."

“I believe in transparency and disclosure,” Mr. Cuomo said on a conference call. “We believe taxpayers have a right to know.”

"A.I.G. executives say that they are contractually obligated to pay the bonuses to their executives, including those who are part of the A.I.G. division where the company’s crisis originated.

"The government’s rescue of the insurer began last fall with the Federal Reserve’s $85 billion emergency loan. The taxpayer assistance has now grown to $170 billion, and the government owns nearly 80 percent of the company. On Sunday, the company disclosed the names of dozens of financial institutions that benefited from the bailout money injected into A.I.G. that the insurer then paid out to satisfy financial contracts."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Appears on Charlie Rose Program to Vigorously Defend Obama Administration Fiscal Policies

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner "acknowledged" to Charlie Rose "that expectations for actions to resuscitate the markets overtook the scope of the administration's plans. But he insisted that he and the president remain confident in their prescriptions for the crisis and swiped away concerns over a lack of a coherent message and understaffing at the Treasury Department.

"It was always our intention to lay out that broad framework of strategy at the beginning so people could see the full scope of the strategy and then lay out the details," Geithner said.

Rose queried Geithner about recent weak market reaction to his congressional testimony regarding the Obama administration's banking policy. Treasury Secretary Geithner responded to Rose: "Now, you're right. Expectations got ahead of the policy, and part of those expectations which caused disappointment were the hope that we were going to provide a very generous benefit to the banking system on terms that I didn't think was going to be effective -- defensible for the American tax taxpayer."

"The segment, a transcript of which was posted by Greg Mitchell, illustrated both the scope of the economic challenges facing the administration and the deftness that Geithner brings to the task. It was not strictly sunny. Towards the end, the Treasury Secretary said that American capitalism "will be different" and the financial system too. But he expressed confidence that a plan that involved putting banks through stress test, shoring up the housing market, and removing the toxic assets away from the books through a combination of public and private capital would, in the end, get the economy running."

"We start[ed] with a mess, a deep mess, made worse by the deepening recession," Geithner said. "And these things are pitting on themselves. And it's very important for people to understand, it's going to take some time to work through this. But what I want people to know is that we're going to do what's necessary to get through it. And these things will get traction. They will start to help unfreeze things, and they will help lay the foundation for recovery."

"On other key issues, here is what the Treasury Secretary had to say."

"On criticism that his testimony to Congress was vague and unprepared:"

"We always were going to start with a broad strategy and follow it up with detailed, concrete announcements on the details so people could see the path forward"

"On the culture of bonuses and executive compensation that has been witnessed in the financial community:

"They made some exceptionally bad judgments. And not just in compensation practice and how they ran their firms, how much risk they took, but as the crisis intensified. And as they got themselves in the position where they needed exceptional assistance from the government, many of those directors made things dramatically worse by continuing to pay out really unjustifiable bonuses to their senior executives and they were losing tens of billions of dollars. That made this basic crisis of confidence much worse, because people understandably looked at that and said how could that be tenable?"

"On his predecessor, Hank Paulson, whose handling of the Troubled Asset Relief Program has come under sharp criticism for its ineffectiveness and lack of accountability:

"He faced a set of constraints and judgments at that time about how best to use limited resources. And he decided at that time that he didn't have a viable way to do that. Now, we thought about it a lot since then. We think we figured out a way to do it in a way that's going to make sense for the American taxpayer."

"On the possibility of letting a major bank fail:

"I'll say again, they play a critical role in our markets, in our financial system. We want to continue to make sure they play that role. Now, where they need temporary assistance through the government to get through that, we're going to make sure it comes with appropriately tough conditions so that they emerge stronger and that we're providing a level of conditions and accountability that's appropriate in this context."

"On a muddled message from Washington:

"[Y]ou have to realize where we started. And we started from a deepening recession here and globally and a huge fiscal hole. And to address that crisis which we inherited, requires the government to act with substantial resources quickly. Now to make it work, you've got to make sure that those resources are going to be effective in getting people back to work and stimulating private investment. And you want them targeting areas, which again, which are going to make America stronger in the longer term. And what we've tried to do at the same time is make sure people understand that when recovery is firmly established, we're going to get back to living within our means as a country"

"On whether being under-staffed is a problem:

"Absolutely not."

President Obama Orders Administration Officials to "question the legitimacy of all the signing statements" of former president George W. Bush

"Calling into question the legitimacy of all the signing statements that former President George W. Bush used to challenge new laws," The New York Times reported Monday. In essence, President Obama "promised yesterday that he would rarely impose his own interpretation of legislation by attaching statements when he signs bills," The Washington Post reported, "pulling back significantly from the controversial use of the tactic by his predecessor, George W. Bush."

The New York Times also reported Monday that: "President Obama on Monday ordered executive officials to consult with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. before relying on any of them to bypass a statute.The Washington Post followed up this announcement by explaining that Obama: "... promised yesterday that he would rarely impose his own interpretation of legislation by attaching statements when he signs bills, pulling back significantly from the controversial use of the tactic by his predecessor, George W. Bush."

"... Mr. Obama also signaled that he intends to use signing statements himself," The New York Times reported, "if Congress sends him legislation that has provisions he decides are unconstitutional. He pledged to use a modest approach when doing so, but said there was a role for the practice if used appropriately." Obama explained according to the Washington Post: "There is no doubt that the practice of issuing such statements can be abused," he said in the memo. "I will issue signing statements to address constitutional concerns only when it is appropriate to do so as a means of discharging my constitutional responsibilities."

“In exercising my responsibility to determine whether a provision of an enrolled bill is unconstitutional, I will act with caution and restraint, based only on interpretations of the Constitution that are well-founded,” Mr. Obama wrote in a memorandum to the heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch."

The New York Times reported : "Mr. Obama’s directions marked the latest step in his administration’s effort to deal with a series of legal and policy disputes it inherited from the Bush administration. It came the same day that Mr. Obama lifted restrictions Mr. Bush had placed on federal financing for research that uses embryonic stem cells."

The NewYork Times explains: "Mr. Bush’s use of signing statements — official legal documents issued by a president the day he signs bills into law, instructing executive officials how to implement the statutes — led to fierce controversy.

The Times continues: "Mr. Bush frequently used signing statements to declare that provisions in the bills he was signing were unconstitutional constraints on executive power, claiming that the laws did not need to be enforced or obeyed as written. The laws he challenged included a torture ban and requirements that Congress be given detailed reports about how the Justice Department was using the counter-terrorism powers in the USA Patriot Act.

It was under Bush that: "... the practice became controversial as Bush dramatically increased its use. Critics accused him of using the previously little-known tactic to subvert the intent of Congress, especially on issues of terrorism, torture and domestic surveillance. In one case, for example, Bush asserted in a signing statement that his administration was not bound by a law he signed prohibiting torture of U.S.-held detainees."

The Washington Post continues: "Longtime Bush critics, however, excoriated Obama for failing to put a complete end to the practice. "There should be a clean break with the past on this," said Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union. "The president shouldn't be asserting -- as President Bush did -- wholesale objections to entire sections of statutes and claiming some kind of presidential authority to ignore them. Anders said his group appreciates Obama's pledge to reduce the number of signing statements. But he said the danger remains that, instead of using the statements to provide guidance to government officials, the new president could use them to ignore the will of the legislature."

Dating back to the 19th century, presidents have occasionally signed a bill while declaring that one or more provisions were unconstitutional. Presidents began doing so more frequently starting with the Reagan administration.

"But Mr. Bush broke all records, using signing statements to challenge about 1,200 bill sections over his eight years in office — about twice the number challenged by all previous presidents combined, according to data compiled by Christopher Kelley, a political science professor at Miami University in Ohio.

"Many of Mr. Bush’s challenges were based on an aggressive view of the president’s power, as commander-in-chief, to take actions he believed necessary to protect national security regardless of what Congress said in federal statutes."

"American Bar Association President H. Thomas Wells Jr. said Obama has taken "significant steps" but has not gone far enough. "The proof is going to be in the pudding when we see his first presidential signing statement and how many times he uses it," Wells said.

"Obama pledged to use signing statements sparingly and to be bound by "interpretations of the Constitution that are well founded." And he promised to restrict such statements by working with members of Congress to fix possible constitutional problems before bills reach his desk."

"Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that the president wants to return the practice to its original intent.

"This president will use signing statements in order to go back to what has been previously done, and that is to enumerate constitutional problems that either the Justice Department or the -- our legislative counsel here see as a potential problem through their reading but not ask that laws be disallowed simply by executive fiat," Gibbs said.

"Gibbs accused the former administration of issuing "hundreds and hundreds" of signing statements whose purpose was to "disregard portions of legislation or the intent of Congress."

In his directive, Mr. Obama said that any signing statement issued before his presidency should be viewed with doubt, placing an asterisk beside all of those issued by Mr. Bush and other former presidents."

“To ensure that all signing statements previously issue are followed only when consistent with these principles, executive branch departments and agencies are directed to seek the advice of the Attorney General before relying on signing statements issued prior to the date of this memorandum as the basis for disregarding, or otherwise refusing to comply with , and provision of a statute,” President Obama wrote.