Political Radar: Obama, Barack

Category: Obama, Barack | Main

Sec. Rice Hosts Hillary Clinton for Dinner

December 09, 2008 11:34 AM

ABC News' Kirit Radia reports: Secretary of State Rice hosted Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton for dinner at her Watergate apartment last night.

The two met one-on-one for 2 hours and dined on sea bass, wild rice, mushroom soup, and a fruit dessert.

"It was a healthy meal," Rice's spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. He added that Rice didn't cook the meal herself.

McCormack said this was an opportunity for Rice to provide Clinton with advice in private.

He wouldn’t reveal specifics of their conversation, but said they spoke "generally" about policy, challenges and opportunities, what the Secretary of State job entails, and how to manage the department.

He said it was probably the first of several meetings between the two, but added nothing else is on the schedule for now.

Yesterday, Clinton made her first trip to the State Department since being tapped by President-elect Barack Obama to be his Secretary of State.

State Department officials said Clinton was at Foggy Bottom to meet with the Obama transition team, which has been operating out of 5,300 square-foot of office space inside the State Department since shortly after election day.

ABC News' Richard Coolidge contributed to this report.

December 9, 2008 in Clinton, Hillary, Obama, Barack | Permalink | User Comments (12)

Obama: Gen. Shinseki Was Right About U.S. Troop Levels in Iraq

December 07, 2008 12:07 PM

ABC News' Jennifer Parker reports: President-elect Barack Obama announced today he is nominating retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki to head the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Shinseki warned Congress shortly before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed to stabilize the country, but his warnings were dismissed by the Bush administration.

"He was right,” Obama told NBC's Tom Brokaw Sunday on "Meet the Press."

“General Shinseki is exactly the right person who is going to be able to make sure that we honor our troops when they come home,” Obama said.

Veterans groups are calling Shinseki a "promising choice."

"We have no doubt that General Shinseki has the integrity and personal fortitude to usher in the real changes needed to make the VA a true steward of our nation's veterans and their families." said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America.

Obama said he was moved to nominate Shinseki because he shares his "reverence for those who serve."

"I grew up in Hawaii, as he did. My grandfather is in the Punch Bowl National Cemetery. When I reflect on the sacrifices that have been made by our veterans and, I think about how so many veterans around the country are struggling even more than those who have not served -- higher unemployment rates, higher homeless rates, higher substance abuse rates, medical care that is inadequate -- it breaks my heart, and I think that General Shinseki is exactly the right person who is going to be able to make sure that we honor our troops when they come home," Obama said.

The president-elect also predicted the nation's economic crisis will worsen.

“Things are going to get worse before they get better,” Obama said.

He said his advisers are still hashing out how large an economic stimulus package is needed, "but it is going to be substantial,” Obama said.

Obama has outlined an economic policy that would create jobs through infrastructure projects -- the largest such public works program since Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration.

"I think we can get a lot of work done fast,"Obama said. "When I met with the governors, all of them have projects that are shovel- ready, that are going to require us to get the money out the door, but they've already lined up the projects, and they can make them work."

As Congress continues to work out the terms of a federal loan package for Detroit automakers, Obama argued that any loans must be predicated on a promise from the auto executives to restructure their industry.

But, Obama said, “The last thing I want to see is the auto industry disappear."

December 7, 2008 in Obama, Barack | Permalink | User Comments (30)

Gates Says His Commitment to Obama is 'Open-Ended'

December 02, 2008 4:42 PM

ABC News' Martha Raddatz and Lindsey Ellerson Report: In his first appearance since being nominated to continue as secretary of defense, Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday "there is no timeframe" for his tenure at the Pentagon.

"I've thrown away the clock because it was absolutely useless at the end of the day," the defense secretary told reporters. "The president-elect and I agreed that this would be open-ended. And so there is no time frame."

Gates admitted he had hoped Obama would not ask him to stay on as secretary of state because he knew he would not be able to decline the post if the question was asked.

"With the country fighting two wars and our men and women in uniform at risk, if a president asked me to help, there's no way I can say no," said Gates. "So I spent a long time hoping the question would never be popped. I then hoped he'd change his mind, and yesterday it became a reality."

Gates also revealed details about his meeting with Obama prior to being offered the position. The two men met secretly at National Airport Fire Department on November 10, the same day the president-elect visited President Bush at the White House.

"We did meet the day he came to Washington to meet with the President. We met when he went back to the airport," said Gates. "They pulled the trucks out so that our cars could go in."

Outside of Fire Station 301, there were numerous Secret Service agents, and when Obama returned about an hour later to board his American Airlines jet bound for Chicago, whoever had been meeting with him slipped out a back gate. Now we know, it was Gates.

When the defense secretary was asked whether he considers himself "at odds" with Obama's position on a timetable for withdrawal, Gates said that while Obama continues to make clear the importance of a timetable, he believes Obama will withdraw American troops responsibly.

"I think that I would subscribe to what the president-elect said yesterday in Chicago," Gates said. "He repeated his desire to try and get our combat forces out within 16 months, but he also said that he wanted to have a responsible drawdown. And he also said that he was prepared to listen to his commanders."

When pushed on the issue, Gates pointed out that the SOFA has significantly changed the situation in Iraq and therefore his outlook on the timetable.

"We are going to be out of all populated areas of Iraq by the end of June 2009," said the secretary. "I'm less concerned about that timetable. First of all, we have a definite timetable now in the SOFA. It's a longer one, but it's a definite timetable. So that bridge has been crossed. And so the question is how do we do this in a responsible way. And nobody wants to put at risk the gains that have been achieved with so much sacrifice on the part of our soldiers and the Iraqis at this point. And so I think that the president-elect framed it just right yesterday.

The secretary of defense went on to call his own situation at the Pentagon "unique."

"This is quite literally a unique situation," said Gates. "Since the creation of the position of secretary of defense some 60 years ago, no secretary has been asked to continue in office under a newly-elected president even when the new president has come from the same party. So I thank President-elect Obama for his confidence in me and look forward to working for and with him," said Gates.

Gates also told reporters that he considers himself part of the Republican party.

"I felt when I was at CIA that as a professional intelligence officer, like a military officer, I should be apolitical. And so I didn't register with a party. I consider myself a Republican," said Gates. "Until yesterday, all of my senior appointments have been under Republican presidents."

While he acknowledged there will be another opportunity to reflect on his time in the Bush administration, the secretary did make a point to thank the current president.

"As I said yesterday in Chicago, serving in this position has been the most gratifying experience of my life and he made it possible. I also thank him [Bush] for his support in the difficult decisions that I've had to make. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work for and with him."

December 2, 2008 in Obama, Barack | Permalink | User Comments (17)

Obama Points to Farm Subsidies for Budget Cuts

November 25, 2008 4:39 PM

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf and Nitya Venkataraman Report: Asked today where he would start cutting spending once he becomes President, Barack Obama immediately pointed to abuse of farm subsidies.

If changing government is his goal, he'll have no more difficult time than with farm subsidies, which confound academics and politicians in both parties, but represent a lifeblood of revenue for the middle of the country.

"Let me give you one example of what I'm talking about," Obama said of government waste at a press conference in Chicago today. "There's a report today that from 2003 to 2006, millionaire farmers received $49 million in crop subsidies even though they were earning more than the $2.5 million cutoff for such subsidies. If this is true, it is a prime example of the kind of waste I intend to end as president." (Read the report here.)

While Obama was talking about people gaming the subsidy system, it is interesting that he immediately thought of farm subsidies - sold every five years when the Farm Bill is passed as a way to help family farmers stay in business and keep American agriculture competitive in the global economy - goals that many people think farm subsidies miss by a wide margin as John Stossel found in Nebraska in October.

Fred Kirschenmann who owns a 3500-acre mixed grain and livestock farm in North Dakota says "in the short term, subsidies are necessary when you have volatility in prices" but ultimately are "not a sustainable system" for small family farms.

Farmers, he says, have never been in a position to bring a product in and determine its value against the market. "They have no economic power to negotiate a price that compensates them for their cost of production."

"What we need to be doing is gradually transitioning away from subsidies to a system that allows farmers to recoup their cost of production,' he says. "Subsidies should not be a handout they ought to be designed so that they provide a basic support to a system so a farmer doesn't go out of business."

Obama grudgingly supported the farm bill last Spring, and supported overriding President Bush's veto of it. He argued at the time that while the bill was not perfect, it was good.

That was not the tack President Bush took when he vetoed the bill in large part for not working enough to cut farm subsidies. In the official administration policy against the Farm Bill, the White House said "the bill continues to increase price supports and send farm subsidies to people who are among the wealthiest 2 percent of American tax filers whose three-year average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is greater than $200,000. Payments should be targeted to those who really need them, especially those who have a meaningful connection to production agriculture. This action does not represent fiscal stewardship nor is it farm program reform."

Ending farm subsidies altogether is a favorite topic of Obama's favorite Republican, Indiana Republican Richard Lugar.

Lugar and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, in late 2007 offered an amendment to the most recent farm bill that would have ended direct subsidy payments to farmers altogether and instead created a safety net - think large-scale, no cost insurance for emergencies.

Their proposal got 37 votes in 2007. Obama was campaigning, but his Illinois colleague Dick Durbin supported the amendment.

On his change.gov transition website, President-elect Obama promises to "Fight for farm programs that provide family farmers with stability and predictability. Implement a $250,000 payment limitation so we help family farmers -- not large corporate agribusiness. Close the loopholes that allow mega farms to get around payment limits."

Cutting subsidy payments at $250,000 was the same level sought by President Bush (and overridden by Congress with Obama's help).

November 25, 2008 in Bush, George W., Obama, Barack, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (28)

For Obama, a Cautionary Tale on Budget Cuts

November 25, 2008 4:04 PM

ABC News' Jonathan Karl Reports: When President-elect Obama promised today to "scour our federal budget, line by line, and make meaningful cuts" he sounded like the current president.

"Just as we trust Americans with their own money, we need to earn their trust by spending their tax dollars wisely," President Bush said during his State of the Union address on January 28. "Next week, I'll send you a budget that terminates or substantially reduces 151 wasteful or bloated programs, totaling more than $18 billion."

True to his word, President Bush's 2009 budget submission proposed to "terminate or reduce 151 discretionary programs" and calculated that making all 151 of those cuts would reduce 2009 spending by $18 billion.

Given the size of the deficit (it was more than $430 billion last year), $18 billion in savings is quite modest. But how many of those 151 programs were ultimately eliminated?

None. Instead Congress added an extra $20 billion in spending.

November 25, 2008 in Bush, George W., Obama, Barack, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (4)

McCain to Seek Senate Re-Election in 2010

November 25, 2008 2:32 PM

ABC News' Lindsey Ellerson Reports: Former Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, age 73, said Tuesday in Arizona that he intends to seek a fifth Senate term in 2010.

"I intend to run again," said McCain during his first news conference since his White House loss to President-elect Barack Obama. "We will make a formal announcement at the appropriate time."

McCain was unable to escape the press conference without a flurry of questions about his former running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The GOP Senator stood by his veep pick, forecasting a "very bright" future for Palin.

"I think she did a great job of energizing our base. I'm very proud of her. It's one of the great pleasures I've had, to get to know her and her family. And I think she has a very bright future in a leadership position in the Republican Party," McCain said.

McCain also took a light-hearted tone when discussing the failed GOP presidential ticket, joking that the curse of Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater's unsuccessful presidential run in 1964 has become Arizona's continued legacy.

"Unfortunately, now it's Goldwater, Udall, Babbitt, McCain, all who have made it, again, impossible for mothers in Arizona to tell their children that some day they can grow up and be president of the United States," said McCain.

McCain applauded Obama for his recently announced economic team, as well as Obama's top pick for the director of the Department of Homeland Security, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

"I have already talked with her and look forward to moving her nomination as quickly as possible through the United States Senate," said McCain of the popular Democratic governor.

"I think she's highly qualified. And we as citizens of Arizona are very proud to have a border state governor and someone with her knowledge and expertise serving in this very, very important and vital position."

When asked if he had any intension to run for governor of Arizona if the post was vacant, McCain said he remains committed to a fifth term in the Senate.

"My attention will be focused on -- on running for re-election in the Senate," said McCain. "That's a six-year term, and I would be committed to fulfilling that."

The Arizona Republican pledged to work together with Obama and referenced their meeting last week at the president-elect's transition headquarters in downtown Chicago.

"As you know, President-elect Obama and I had a very good meeting and discussed a number of issues, ranging from Afghanistan and Iraq to the need for -- address the challenges facing our economy, including various reforms in the practices of the Congress, as far as spending and budgetary issues are concerned," said McCain. "So I look forward to working with President-elect Obama and -- as we face these enormous challenges that we have."

McCain also said that he looks forward to resuming his work in the Senate, adding that he is eager to get back to his duties on behalf of Arizonians.

"I will resume my duties in the Indian Affairs Committee and work on Native American issues, land, water, and, of course, the significant military presence we have here in Arizona," said the Senator. "I'll be looking forward to working on those issues, as well as the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee."

The Republican Senator also announced his intension to visit the Middle East in the near future.

"I intend to travel soon to both Iraq and Afghanistan," said McCain. "Obviously, the situation in Iraq, as regards to the status-of-forces agreement and the status of our forces and the -- the success of the strategy, and now the next steps we need to take, I look forward to discussing with General Odierno and the leaders of the Iraq government."

November 25, 2008 in McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (26)

The Note: Obama Waits on Change for January

November 21, 2008 8:21 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Friday's Note:

Change doesn’t have to wait until January.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is gone. (A sign of a new day.)

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., is gone, partly, too. (A sign of a new order.)

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., isn’t going anywhere. (But she’s gone quite a distance to get there.)

Penny Pritzker leaves before she ever even arrives.

And the auto bailout came back to life after it was declared dead, only to die again. (It may yet rise again -- though not until next month.)

As for President-elect Barack Obama -- he is, for the most part, waiting for January.

Read the rest of The Note -- and get all the latest on the 2008 election, Congress, the White House and the wide world of politics every day -- from Rick Klein by bookmarking this link.

Thus far through the transition, we’re learning that Obama remains, at his core, a cautious and patient politician -- one who can be quite stingy with his political capital.

Meanwhile, the stock market is in freefall, Detroit is near collapse, and Congress is in a stalemate. Obama has had nearly half of his Cabinet filled for him, without a single formal announcement.

(If you’re scoring at home, he’s now had more haircuts than press conferences as president-elect.)

Other than a few comments, Obama has chosen not to play in the current crisis: “With the stock market plunging and the credit market entering a new freeze, cries are being heard for a new government intervention to prop up major financial institutions before President-elect Barack Obama takes office,” Floyd Norris writes in The New York Times. “By resigning from the Senate before the current session began and allowing it to appear that a sense of drift could prevail until he is inaugurated, Mr. Obama may have missed an opportunity to exert leadership.”

“How much can go wrong in the two months before Mr. Obama takes the oath of office? The answer, unfortunately, is: a lot,” Paul Krugman writes in his column. “At minimum, the next two months will inflict serious pain on hundreds of thousands of Americans, who will lose their jobs, their homes, or both. What’s really troubling, however, is the possibility that some of the damage being done right now will be irreversible.”

“The problem is that nothing of significance can or will happen until the new President takes office in January, even though there is -- finally -- a great appetite for action in Washington. This is going to be a very frustrating few months,” Time’s Joe Klein writes.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 21, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, Inauguration, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (43)

The Note: Obama Leans on Insiders in Choosing Team

November 20, 2008 8:30 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Thursday's Note:

Call it change Washington can believe in.

The Cabinet that is emerging (still unofficially -- President-elect Barack Obama has yet to make a single formal announcement) looks so very . . . practical, maybe typical.

The faces are like the folks at a college reunion -- you knew these people once before, when there were a little younger, and sort of always had the feeling you’d see them again.

And -- surprise -- Obama picks top aides the same way previous presidents have: From the ranks of elected officials, old friends and allies, and people who have done it before -- yes, in Washington.

Your latest entries for the ledger of the likely: Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader, at Health and Human Services; Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz., at Homeland Security; and Penny Pritzker, an early campaign supporter and a big Obama fundraiser, at Commerce.

Made formal Wednesday: David Axelrod, to become senior advisor to the president; Greg Craig as White House counsel; Lisa Brown as White House staff secretary; and Chris Lu (not Patti Solis Doyle) as Cabinet secretary.

“President-elect Barack Obama promised the voters change but has started his Cabinet selection process by naming several Washington insiders to top posts,” Kevin Freking writes for the AP.

“President-elect Barack Obama campaigned on the slogan of ‘change.’ But his early appointees, including two top choices that emerged Wednesday, show that experience is one of his main criteria,” Laura Meckler and Jonathan Weisman write in The Wall Street Journal.

“The latest transition news highlighted the three personnel pools supplying Mr. Obama with his picks,” they write. “Most prominent are Clinton administration veterans -- including, possibly, former first lady Hillary Clinton for secretary of state. Some high-profile appointments are also long-serving members and staff from Capitol Hill. Then there are the influential Chicagoans -- a group that seems smaller than the hometown crowd that usually accompanies a new president to Washington.”

And why is it that all the Cabinet picks come with what Al Kamen is calling a “Best Buy” contingency -- a 30-day return policy?

“Reminds us of the Hamlet-like performance of former New York governor Mario Cuomo when Bill Clinton offered him a seat on the Supreme Court and he accepted, then he didn't, and back and forth,” Kamen writes in his Washington Post column. “In the end, if it doesn't work out, there was no Obama announcement, no photo op. There are no pictures of him walking out with Clinton, smiling. He's reached out to his former foe, he's been magnanimous. And of course he will be saddened that it didn't work out.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 20, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, Huckabee, Mike, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (78)

Obama Picks Tom Daschle as Health and Human Services Secretary

November 19, 2008 12:31 PM

ABC News' Jonathan Karl Reports: ABC News can confirm that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Sources confirm to ABC News that Daschle, who was the Senate Majority Leader when Bill Clinton was president, has accepted the offer.

An early supporter of Obama, Daschle endorsed the president-elect in February 2007 and was tapped to oversee Obama's health transition team.

November 19, 2008 in Obama, Barack, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (130)

The Note: Clinton Drama Haunts Obama Transition

November 19, 2008 8:35 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Wednesday's Note:

Which of these items should surprise us:

- The fact that Vice-president-elect Joe Biden is still a member of the United States Senate? (Albeit one with no intentions of actually casting another vote.)

- The fact that Sen. Ted Stevens is still a member of the Republican caucus? (Albeit one with very few votes left to cast.)

- The fact that Sen. Joe Lieberman is still a member of the Democratic caucus? (Just with one fewer subcommittee chairmanship that no one knew he had.)

- The fact that it there might be more old Clinton hands in the incoming Obama administration that there would have been if Hillary Clinton had won?

- The fact that conventional wisdom on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at State has shifted from why-would-he-want-her to why-would-she-want-it? (Is this all part of a power-play dance?)

- The fact that President-elect Barack Obama hasn’t had complete, leak-proof control of any of his major appointments so far in the transition process? (All this before he names a single member of his Cabinet . . . )

Forgiveness is in the air on the Hill, and maybe in Chicago, too.

Add Eric Holder, Obama’s choice for attorney general, to two running lists: worst-kept appointment secrets, and former top Clinton administration officials filling out the Obama team.

If Holder gets the nod, this means we know there will be at least one (if not a dozen) confirmation fights that reopen the old battles of the Clinton years.

This while Sen. Clinton plays out her internal fight over whether she wants to be Secretary of State. (Sorry, did someone mention drama?)

“While Mr. Obama has yet to name any of his cabinet secretaries, his early choices for White House staff positions and the names currently at the top of the list for staff and cabinet jobs suggest that his administration could be heavily stocked with Democrats who served under Mr. Clinton,” The New York Times' Eric Lichtblau and John M. Broder report.

This storyline, again: “President-elect Barack Obama repeatedly is turning to the Clinton administration for his Cabinet and staff, the latest example coming yesterday when Eric Holder emerged as the leading candidate for attorney general,” Bloomberg’s James Rowley and Julianna Goldman write. “To be sure, some of the problems that beset the Clinton administration could follow as well.”

Obama “wants the best people for the job, and he’s willing to overcome that chatter if he determines that anyone he appoints is the best person for the job, even if they did serve in the Clinton administration,” ABC’s George Stephanopoulos said on “Good Morning America” Wednesday.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 19, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (38)