NYTimes: Boehner Issued ‘Unprecedented’ Refusal of Obama’s Request for Speech
September 1, 2011 No Comment“Speaker Says No, So Obama Delays Speech” is how The New York Times's September 1 front page headline spun the short squabble over the timing of President Obama's upcoming speech before Congress on his job creation plan. “Spat Over Which Day to Address Economy,” added a subheadline. The online version opted for a headline that went lighter on the loaded language: “Obama Moves Jobs Speech After Skirmish With Boehner.” For their part, Times writers Helene Cooper and Jackie Calmes ginned up the perpetual lament of partisan discord in Washington, before going on to portray President Obama as the bigger man for amending his initial wish to speak to Congress next Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern: WASHINGTON — Any hopes that a kinder, gentler bipartisan Washington would surface once Congress returns after Labor Day were summarily dashed on Wednesday when President Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner clashed over, of all things, the date and time of the president’s much-awaited speech to the nation about his proposal to increase jobs and fix the economy. In a surreal volley of letters, each released to the news media as soon as it was sent, Mr. Boehner rejected a request from the president to address a joint session of Congress next Wednesday at 8 p.m. — the same night that a Republican presidential debate is scheduled. In an extraordinary turn, the House speaker fired back his own letter to the president saying, in a word, no. Might the president be able to reschedule for the following night, Sept. 8? For several hours, the day turned into a very public game of chicken. By late Wednesday night, though, the White House issued a statement saying that because Mr. Obama “is focused on the urgent need to create jobs and grow our economy,” he “welcomes the opportunity to address a joint session of Congress on Thursday, Sept. 8.” Cooper and Calmes later went on to present Boehner's rejection of the September 7 speaking request as an “unprecedented” departure from decorum: Congressional historians said Mr. Boehner’s move was unprecedented. “The Senate Historical Office knows of no instance in which Congress refused the president permission to speak before a joint session of Congress,” Betty K. Koed , associate historian with the Senate, said in an e-mail. “Permission to speak in a joint session is given by resolution of the House and Senate, and arrangements are made through the leadership offices of each chamber.” Of course, Obama wasn't “refused” permission to speak, as the text of Boehner's letter made clear , in which the Speaker “respectfully invite[d]” the president to “address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, September 8, 2011 in the House chamber, at a time that works best for your [President Obama's] schedule.”
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The Hello Kitty backpack is ready, as are the Justin Bieber notebook and the shiny purple pencil box freshly larded with Ticonderoga #2s. All that’s left now is to pack the first lunch and saddle up for the first day of school drop-off, knowing that our simple presence will provide an education of its own. As the only two-dad family in an elementary school with almost 500 kids, we become the default face of same-sex parenting for some of the children and their caregivers. And that’s OK — when we filled out paperwork to adopt six years ago, we literally signed up for this. Last year, soon after Kindergarten started, my husband and I eagerly attended Parent Night together. Anyone at this event had no trouble figuring out the relationship between the dude in the leather jacket and the guy in the foofy scarf. But once the semester was well underway, it was rare for anyone to see both dads at once. My husband did all the drop-offs and most pick-ups, while I was the one volunteering in the classroom and organizing after school play dates for my daughter. Some of her classmates’ parents only ever saw her with him, while others only saw her with me. Not surprisingly, both of us dads got asked about our wives and we both cheerfully referenced our husbands in reply. That linguistic substitution was usually all it took for our fellow Kindergarten parents to adopt our language. Occasionally, this prompted an outpouring of curiosity. When one mom commented that she hadn’t seen me on the playground the day before, I said that my husband usually did pick-up. As if primed, she pounced on the distinction. “How did you get to be the wife?” I gently explained that I wasn’t a wife. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) In a state with same-sex marriage, that’s not just a matter of semantics but of legal fact: Two men are two husbands. She knit her brow. “So who does the wifely duties?” As I knew she was originally from a country with a very conservative culture, I didn’t snort at her use of the word “wifely” or ask if that meant having a martini waiting for my husband at the end of the work day. I just laid it out: In our house, we divide chores up by who hates which task least. I hate housecleaning less than laundry, so I do the sweeping and picking up, while he sorts endless darks from lights. This answer seemed not only sufficient, but pleasing. She sighed, “It must be nice to choose like that!” I wasn’t offended by this conversation, nor was I truly surprised. This wasn’t the first time I’ve heard these queries and it won’t be the last. Even some of our most liberal friends tend to treat me and my husband as Encyclopedia Homosexualis from time to time, turning to us to explain what X or Y is like for gay people. We can’t answer for all other gays and lesbians, of course, but we can tell about our personal experiences in this society. Indeed, I think we have an obligation to do so, for if we don’t tell the truth about our lives, the stuff made up by politicians and preachers may be allowed to define us instead. If the other families in our school constantly see two involved dads and one happy girl, that will be more persuasive than any information or opinion that the media can supply. It’s better, still, if they get to see us down in the trenches, wrestling with meltdowns and misbehavior they find familiar. These moments of pure recognition — parenting is parenting is parenting — speak volumes about all that connects us. Such visibility matters as kids head back to school in these politically charged times. In recent months, Tennessee has inched closer to approving a “Don’t Say Gay” policy designed to keep teachers mum about our lives, while California has headed the opposite way, deciding it wants to require LGBT history in classrooms. Both policies try to legislate what children should or shouldn’t learn, but let’s face it: No matter what kids read on the page, the real world is always going to provide the most thorough education. And in the real world, families like mine exist. So as our daughter chooses her first day outfit, and dreams of showing off her new lunch box, we’re preparing, too. School hasn’t even started, but we’re already ready for the pop-quizzes to come.
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Obama’s Jobs Speech To Coincide With GOP Debate 08-22-11 Mitt Romney Talks about Libya, and His Upcoming Economic/Jobs Speech AP Source: Obama to Make Big Jobs Speech in Sept AmandaVerite says: RT @ HuffingtonPost : BREAKING: Obama agrees to delay major jobs speech to Congress http://t.co/CHsUQrd
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President Barack Obama has acceded to House Speaker John Boehner’s wishes to deliver an address on jobs and the economy to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 8. The president had requested Sept. 7 for the long-anticipated speech. (Aug. 31)
Continue reading …“Obama Takes Republicans' Night From Them With Speech,” exults the August 31 headline for National Journal's story on the president's wish to give a speech on his economic recovery plan on September 7. The text of the article practically rings with approval of the president's rude and presumptuous request (emphasis mine): Next Wednesday night was supposed to belong to the Republicans. It was to be a showcase for the eight GOP presidential contenders, a chance to use two hours of national television coverage of their debate in California to bash President Obama. A chance to look presidential. But with only 198 words in a letter to the leaders of Congress, Obama has reminded them who is president right now. And it doesn’t get much more presidential than commanding the members of the House and the Senate to sit there in a joint session to get their marching orders from the commander in chief. In deciding on the grandest possible venue to unveil Obama's jobs plan and in picking Sept. 7 even though it clashes with the Republican candidates’ debate in California, the White House is playing political hardball. But it is also ratcheting up the pressure to deliver a program that is more than just a rehash of past proposals and is bold enough to put the economy on a course more positive than today’s. If Obama falls short on that measure, if his proposal looks timid or inadequate, he could regret seeking that large stage. But that will not be known until later. The immediate impact is on politics, and it assuredly leaves the eight challengers steaming and the debate sponsors miffed. In his letter requesting the audience, the president placed his speech above politics. “Washington needs to put aside politics and start making decisions based on what is best for our country and not what is best for each of our parties in order to grow the economy and create jobs. And we must answer this call,” he wrote. (Both chambers of Congress would have to approve such a session by passage of a joint resolution.) Obama promised to use the speech “to lay out a series of bipartisan proposals that the Congress can take immediately to continue to rebuild the American economy by strengthening small businesses, helping Americans get back to work, and putting more money in the paychecks of the middle class and [of] working Americans, while still reducing our deficit and getting our fiscal house in order.” At the White House, officials professed to be shocked at any suggestion that they would intentionally step on the planned GOP debate. “Of course not,” insisted a wounded-looking press secretary Jay Carney at his daily briefing. Asked how 8 p.m. Wednesday was selected, he responded, “There were a lot of considerations. You have to deal with Congress’s schedule. This is one debate of many, that is on one channel of many. That was not enough reason not to have it.”
Continue reading …Obama declares Hurricane Irene a federal disaster to release repair money
August 31, 2011 No Comment
Scale of the wreckage puts strain on resources as 2011 is set to be the most expensive year for disaster damage in US history Barack Obama has declared Hurricane Irene a “major federal disaster” in states across the eastern US, freeing relief funds for what is likely to be one of the costliest natural disasters in American history. Obama acted as people struggled with severe flooding in states along the east coast from North Carolina going north. The designation means government money can be used for temporary housing and home repairs. The president earlier signed emergency declarations for other states including Puerto Rico and Vermont, where heavy flooding has destroyed roads and left 13 towns surrounded by water. New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie, called on the president to designate his heavily flooded state a disaster funds recipient. Thousands of people were evacuated in cities along the Passaic river, which has flooded towns along its banks. “I saw just extraordinary despair,” Christie said after visiting some affected areas. The homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, is visiting the state to survey the damage. The scale of the disaster is putting intense pressure on the resources of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) and has led to a political row about whether the agency will have enough money to deal with Irene’s aftermath. Fema’s disaster relief fund has less than $800m (£490m) left and could run out before the end of the current fiscal year on 30 September. Eric Cantor, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, is pressing for budget cuts to cover the cost of cleaning up after Irene and other disasters, while Democrats argue that aid should not be delayed by political bickering. About 40 people are now believed to have been killed by the storm, which also caused damage to property estimated at more than $10bn and forced a shutdown of New York city. Insurance experts are still calculating the likely bill but Irene looks set to be one of the most costly disasters to hit the US. The most expensive disaster in US history was Hurricane Katrina, which killed at least 1,836 people and caused $45bn in insured damages in 2005, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III). The second most costly – at $23bn – were the 9/11 attacks, which the institute counts as a single event. Hurricane Andrew, which hit southern Florida and Louisiana in 1992, is the third most costly at $22bn. On current estimates, Irene would rank seventh. Even before Irene, 2011 has already been one of the most costly disaster seasons in history. According to the institute, there were 43 “severe thunderstorms” in the first half of the year, causing 593 deaths and damage in excess of $23.5bn. AM Best in New Jersey, which rates the financial strength of insurers, calculates insurance losses topped $27bn in the first half of the year and have already exceeded the total for all of 2010. Jeff Mango of AM Best said 2011 was shaping up to be a year of record losses from storm damages. He said damage from tornadoes and hail in the midwest and storms in the north-east had taken a heavy toll in the first half of the year. Massive tornadoes in Alabama left almost 300 people dead and caused billions of dollars in damage earlier this year. Mango said it was the increased frequency of events rather than their scale that was leading to record damages. “It’s hard to say yet what Irene will cost. It’s more of a flooding event and a lot of it is uninsured risk, unfortunately,” he said. US household insurance does not usually include flood damage. September is typically the biggest month for hurricanes, and forecasters have predicted an above-average hurricane season this year. “This could potentially be a record year,” Mango said. Hurricane Irene United States Natural disasters and extreme weather North and Central America US domestic policy United States Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
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Continue reading …It seems proponents of demand-side economics have learned nothing from the recent bursting of the real estate bubble as it is now rumored that the Obama White House is looking to push a massive refinancing scheme powered by the unregulated and unreformed Fannie and Freddie in yet another effort to use government cash to increase private spending: The refinancing initiative would allow certain borrowers to refinance loans that are backed by government-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or the Federal Housing Administration, the sources said. A broad-based effort to automatically refinance millions of mortgages is not in the works, yet the administration is looking to take targeted changes to an existing program that would allow more borrowers to take advantage of low mortgage rates, including allowing borrowers to refinance even if they owe a significant amount above their property's current value. The idea is to help struggling borrowers refinance at current low interest rates, which would cut their monthly payments and free up cash for other spending. The hope is that this could drum up overall business activity. If people were to participate in the refinancing, it would seem that this would have more of a lasting impact than the utterly wasteful first-time homebuyer credit of 2009. Still, where is the money going to come from and how soon would a refinancing change cause liberals to whine about too-strict lending standards like they always do? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
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