Days 31-40
- Day 31: President Obama and Prime Minster Harper meet on
Mutual Critical Issues - Day 32: Obama offers resources to New Orleans recovery;
makes auto chiefs accountable - Day 33: Obama Balances Military Strikes in Pakistan with
Domestic Woes on the Home Front - Day 34: President Obama says Deficit Reduction Needed to Sustain Growth
- Day 35: Obama Holds Fiscal Summit at White House
- Day 36: President Obama to Deliver Agenda on Massive Economic Crisis Tonight
- Day 37: President Obama Reassures the Nation it will Triumph
Over Economic Crisis. - Day 38: President Obama's fiscal 2010 budget: $3.6 trillion in Spending in Health, Education and Energy Sectors
- Day 39: President Obama’s Blueprint for US Troop withdrawal from Iraq
- Day 40: President Obama Fills Secretary of Health Post after Daschle Debacle
- Obama Picks Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services
President Obama continues to build his Cabinet after a few bumps along the way. Obama’s first pick for the Secretary of Health and Human Services post was Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle who had to withdraw amid tax problems of his own.
Today however the President named Kansas Governor Sebelius as nominee for the post and she has accepted the invitation. The nomination comes as no surprise as Sebelius’ name had been brought forward as soon as Daschle withdrew. She has yet to be confirmed by the Senate.
Prior to becoming Governor, Sebelius served eight years with the Insurance Commission, a credential which gives her high marks for her new post. The White House is confident that Governor Sebelius can tackle the health care crisis as the Obama Administration paves the way for universal health care.
A White House Official is quoted as saying: ``Governor Sebelius brings extraordinary qualifications to this role: As a popular two-term governor known for her bipartisan approach, and as an insurance commissioner charged with standing up for better health care for her state, the governor has unique insight and experience to draw on as President Obama's partner in lowering health care costs and expanding coverage``.
Sebelius also brings with her an historical first: she and her father both served as governors in their political careers and they are the only father and daughter to make this claim in America`s history. John Gilligan served as Ohio`s governor from 1971 to 1975.
The new Secretary will have another immediate and pressing issue to deal with in her new role. Sebelius is known to support abortions rights and this dovetails with Obama`s more liberal approach on this divisive issue. Anti-abortionists have already expressed strong opposition to the appointment, calling it `mindboggling`.
- President Obama Speaks on Troop Withdrawal at Camp Lejeune
- Rep. Senator John McCain Gives Thumbs Up to Obama
President Obama Speaks on Troop Withdrawal at Camp Lejeune
President Obama said today his goal is to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010. Obama's trip to Marine Corps Camp Lejeune was his first to a military base as President and it set the stage for delivery of his plan for troop withdrawal from Iraq.
There are currently 142,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Obama’s plans call for up to 50,000 troops to remain in Iraq after combat troops leave in 2010. The remaining troops will be withdrawn gradually over the next one year period. All U.S. troops are to leave Iraq by December 31, 2011, the date that the Bush administration had agreed to with the Iraqi Government last year.
In his speech at Camp Lejeune, Obama stated: "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end. By any measure, this has already been a long war. It is time to bring our troops home with the honor they have earned."
"We sent our troops to Iraq to do away with Saddam Hussein's regime and you got the job done," Obama told the troops. It is up to the Iraqis to ensure a future under a government that is "sovereign, stable and self-reliant."
Senator John McCain Gives Thumbs Up to Obama
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona commended Obama’s decisions to leave a strong presence of up to 50,000 troops and continue to monitor current insurgency activity. McCain told the Senate he is “...cautiously optimistic that the plan that is laid out by the president can lead to success." Senator McCain told his compatriots: "We are finally on a path to success. Let us have no crisis of confidence now."
- President Obama Sets Budget for 2010
Today President Obama released his administration’s budget for next year. The numbers are staggering – a $3.6 trillion budget for 2010. The budget allocates billions for the health care industry and billions more to prop up the dismal economy. It means that with the allowance of the stimulus bill and the extra infusion of money for the financial sector, the federal deficit will rise to an unprecedented $1.75 trillion next year. Under Obama’s budget proposal, the deficit will hover near $1 trillion over the next two years. The projection is a reduction in the deficit to $581 billion in 2012 and $533 billion in 2013. Obama had alluded to his deficit reduction goal on many occasions but this budget outlines the details of how he plans to get there by 2013.
White House budget director Peter Orszag said the budget also includes details of $2 trillion in long-term savings the administration has found so far in trimming unnecessary expenditures.
The Federal Budget is extremely complex and it has countless provisions for proper allocation of the funds, what it means to families, big and small business and what is means as a financial indicator all over the world. But there are some provisions that stand out more than the rest in this spend/cut seesaw. Obama knows his job is to keep the seesaw level. Listed below is a small sample of some of the main provisions covered by the budget.
- Universal health care coverage over 10 years at a projected cost of $ 1 trillion;
- Tax increases for couples earning more than $250,000 and individuals earning more than $200,000. This change generates $338 billion over 10 years;
- Limited tax deductions for itemized deductions for families earning more than $250,000 and individual making more than $200,000. This is worth $179 billion over 10 years;
- Capital gains tax rates raised to 20%, up from 15 percent, also for individuals above $200,000 and families above $250,000. This would generate $118 billion;
- Business tax increases will generate $353 billion over 10 years;
- Tax credits include a refund on payroll taxes of up to $400 per individual and $800 per family. This costs $536 billion over 10 years.
But Obama said "we must add to our deficits in the short-term to provide immediate relief to families and get our economy moving." What it really means is that we have to spend money to make money.
- President Barack Obama Speaks with Optimism on a Stronger America
President Obama gave an historic performance in his speech to Congress that was televised around the world in prime time. The speech was not the traditional State of the Union address since Obama has served only a month in office but the rhetoric was confident and straightforward. Part of Obama’s appeal is the ability to speak in a public forum while audience members feel like he is talking directly, individually with them.
As the President entered the Chamber and throughout his address, there was re-sounding applause and he received many standing ovations as he made each point on his agenda. The speech lasted approximately 45 minutes. To paraphrase the content in those 45 minutes President Obama warned that doing nothing will surely bring the economy to its knees and he is determined not to let that happen under his watch.
President Obama infused his speech with optimism saying: “...we will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”
Here are a few of the highlights of President Obama’s first address to members of Congress:
- Obama talked about the budget he will present to Congress over the next few days. It is centered on three cornerstones of his economic stimulus bill Education, Health Care and Energy Efficiency.
- Obama wants to revamp the school system so that by 2020 the U.S. will have the highest number of college graduates anywhere in the world.
- Obama made a firm commitment to health care reform and said his administration was injecting “the largest investment ever” to preventative programs and education.
- The United States will double its supply of renewable energy in the next three years and will provide $15 billion every year for the research and development of green energy technology.
President Obama resolutely said: “Slowly, but surely, confidence will return, and our economy will recover." He asked that Congress join him in "doing whatever proves necessary because we cannot consign our nation to an open-ended recession."
- Obama Set to Deliver Prime Time Speech to the Nation
President Obama will speak tonight at the House of Representatives in a message that will be televised around the world. Obama will focus the attention of the nation’s citizens and leaders on the tough work ahead to turn the economy around.
Obama will talk about the trillion-dollar-plus deficit that President Bush left behind as his legacy. It is a reminder of the reasons for the economic mess that is now Obama’s to clean up. It’s tough too to keep Americans in the loop because there are so many priorities and shifting sand as some issues have been revamped to ensure passage of the stimulus bill in the House and in the Senate.
In his address, President Obama will also speak about foreign policy but the primary goal for this speech is to deal with the economy. Obama is reaching out to the American public tonight, and while many are familiar with his brand of rhetoric this will be an opportunity to reach out to millions of people in an honest and direct manner, as his style.
Obama knows and will talk about the crises facing the nation that are so complex that a bi-partisan approach is the only workable solution. The President doesn’t mince words but at the same time he has the ability to underscore his words with optimism.
Early today, Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said that the president will be totally open about the challenges facing the country. I think the president believes very clearly that we have to be honest about where we are," Gibbs said. "Tonight, he will tell the country that we've faced greater challenges than we face now and we've always met those challenges
The main theme of tonight’s speech will be according to Gibbs: “It took us a long time to get here and it's going to take us a long time to get out."
- Obama Holds Fiscal Summit at White House
- President bringing together dozens of advisers and adversaries to discuss how to curb a burgeoning federal deficit laden with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid obligations.
Obama's summit at the White House on Monday is the first meeting toward a strategy to address the long-term fiscal health of the nation. The gathering also comes as Obama prepares ambitious plans to cut the federal deficit by half within four years.
"It will require doing all we can to get exploding deficits under control as our economy begins to recover," Obama said in his weekend Internet and radio address. "That work begins on Monday, when I will convene a fiscal summit of independent experts and unions, advocacy groups and members of Congress to discuss how we can cut the trillion-dollar deficit that we've inherited."
Even before it began, some of its 130 invited participants cautioned against overinflated expectations.
"It can either be a nice press event. Or it can be a substantive event," said Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, whom Obama appointed as commerce secretary before the New Hampshire lawmaker balked. "History tells us it will be the first. We've had these meetings before. There's always a lot of people willing to point out the problem."
Yet, he said, there is seldom anyone willing to make the difficult decisions to solve those problems.
As the nation's economy continues its downward spiral, Obama's advisers are keeping their focus on the broader fiscal troubles that have sent millions to unemployment rolls. Taken in context, the summit is but one part of the White House's larger approach to the coming weeks focused on Obama's priorities for a first term, including a State of the Union-style address on Tuesday.
That speech is not likely to include plans to deal with long-crumbling entitlement programs.
The Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said a solution already exists in legislation written by Gregg and his Democratic counterpart on the Budget Committee, Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota.
Their measure would create a bipartisan commission to deal with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The entitlement programs face bankruptcy, although experts differ on how urgently each is threatened.
Many House Democrats, however, remain opposed to a commission, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Obama has indicated he's open to the idea -- and many others -- as a way to move toward a viable solution.
McConnell said any movement would be a step toward getting a handle on the unfunded liabilities.
"So I hope what the meeting at the White House is about tomorrow is about sobering up here and beginning to rethink the kind of debt that we're laying on future generations," McConnell told CNN's "State of the Union" program on Sunday.
That comes hand-in-hand with the president's plans to deal with the deficit.
Obama plans to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term, mostly by scaling back Iraq war spending, raising taxes on the wealthiest and streamlining government. The goal is to halve the federal deficit to $533 billion by the time his first term ends in 2013.
He inherited a deficit of about $1.3 trillion from his predecessor, President George W. Bush.
- Obama Goal to Cut Deficit 50% by 2013
President Obama has his work cut out for him this week as he pens a budget for the next fiscal year that will result in his government spending half the usual beyond the nation’s ability to pay.
Today, Republican governors were lukewarm to the proposal that President Obama plans to cut the record budget deficits to more than a half trillion dollars by 2013.
Raising taxes is a huge sticking point for the GOP according to Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Republicans say the financial crisis will erupt if the President raises taxes.
The President has set a fiscal policy summit on Monday with the governors while already in Washington for their National Governors Association Winter meeting.
"We can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. He said his budget will be "sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline."
Obama's budget is expected to outline ideas for funding universal health care and decrease the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. The President vowed to make deficit reduction a priority but as a first, immediate step, economic recovery must come first staring with an infusion of $75 billion to help homeowners facing foreclosure.
- Obama Expanding Military Action in Pakistan
- Domestic Fiscal Restraint Top on Obama’s Agenda
Obama Expanding Military Action in Pakistan
President Obama gave the green light on recent missile strikes against insurgents in Pakistan this past week aimed at strategically important targets associated with Al Qaeda. This is a clear signal that the Obama Administration intends to expand military defences in the region and will continue to use U.S. intelligence against terrorism suspects.
The strike on February16th targeted a camp led by Hakeem Ullah Mehsud, a top aide in the Al Qaeda network and believed to be behind the assignation of Benazir Bhutto. The strategy is an obvious statement from the White House that leading militants be brought down.
Public statements made by the Pakistani government say the attacks are a breach of sovereignty within its borders but behind the scenes Pakistan has been facilitating U.S. unmanned Predator aerial vehicle hits in Pakistan's tribal areas.
According to intelligence officials, since August, 2008 eleven of Al Qaeda’s leaders were killed in 30 hits.
Domestic Fiscal Restraint Topic at White House Summit
President Barack Obama, with the passage of the stimulus bill now accomplished, turns his attention to a summit on fiscal policy, his first Congressional Address to Congress and the presentation of his administration’s budget for 2010.
This Monday coming, February 23 Obama will facilitate a “fiscal responsibility summit” at the White House. The meeting is to focus Washington’s and the nation’s commitment to fiscal restraint.
On Thursday Obama will outline highlights of the budget proposal to Congress. The proposal is expected to reveal that Obama plans to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term. Three objectives will help him achieve this agenda: cutting back on Iraq war spending, implementing additional taxes on the very wealthy and trimming government of unnecessary spending.
It’s a political conundrum for Liberals and Conservatives. Liberals are concerned that attention will be turned away from the immediate needs of the population while government tries to reign in long-term deficits that were created by banks, mortgage lenders and automakers. Conservatives worry that Democrats will tweak social network programs such as Social Security and perpetuate the Democratic free spending practices and making the deficit catastrophic.
A spokesperson for the bipartisan fiscal watch dog group, Concord Coalition says: "If you are going to the country with hundreds of billions (of dollars) of fiscal stimulus, and hundreds of billions of financial-sector rescue, and now more for mortgages and more for the auto industry, it becomes very difficult for them to say, 'And now for my real agenda: Health care expansion for hundreds of billions of dollars’.
Obama campaigned with promises to reduce health care costs including prescription drug prices. He also plans to implement computerized medical record-keeping to improve medical treatment and efficiency.
- Obama Promises More Aid for Katrina Victims
- Obama Team Sets up Task Force on Auto Restructuring
More Aid for New Orleans
President Obama said today that people in the U.S. Gulf Coast are still trying to rebuild three years after Hurricane Katrina. The support from Washington has not been there for the residents and Obama promised more resources and a sustained commitment to the region.
There is no question his words reflected poor oversight by the Bush government on Katrina recovery efforts. Katrina took the lives of more than 1600 people and tore the region apart with over $41 billion in property damages.
President Obama said in a statement: "The residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast who are helping rebuild are heroes who believe in their communities and they are succeeding despite the fact that they have not always received the support they deserve from the federal government.”
To ensure more support, Obama said he would extend the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding to September. The position was established by Bush and was due to terminate this month.
The President is also sending two Cabinet secretaries to visit New Orleans and other storm-ravaged parts of the Gulf Coast. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan are slated to visit the area on March 5th and 6th.
Obama Team Sets up Task Force on Auto Restructuring
The White House administration reports that fundamental restructuring is required if auto makers are going to fix the economic doom facing the auto industry. President Obama has underscored that auto executives must deal with the problems with a sense of urgency.
The task force, headed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers, are asking auto officials for more analysis and initial recommendations on how to proceed quickly. The proposal to appoint a senior administration official to monitor the multibillion-dollar bailout packages was set aside in favour of a task force. Both troubled GM and Chrysler have requested an additional $ 21.6 billion of government money to stay afloat.
- Obama Meets Canadian Prime Minister
President Obama visited Canada’s capital city in Ottawa today in his first foreign trip as head of state, meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper today. 
There were several critical issues the two leaders discussed including the global economic crisis; a new initiative to fight global warming; and the continuing conflict with the Taliban and al Qaeda factions in Afghanistan.
The economy was a priority for the two leaders, with emphasis on the controversy over the "buy American" clause in the recently passed U.S. economic stimulus package. Canadians have expressed concern over the provision that could foster protectionism and for Canada this would mean a loss of billions of dollars in trade revenue.
Obama gave reassurances that nothing in the policy contravenes international trade agreements. "It was very important to make sure that any provisions [in the stimulus plan] ... were consonant to our [obligations] under the WTO and NAFTA," said the President. “I want to grow trade, and not contract it. I don't think there's anything in the recovery package that's adverse to that goal. As one of the largest economies in the world, it's important for us to make sure that we are showing leadership in the belief that trade ultimately is beneficial to all countries," he added.
"Canada and the United States are closer economically, socially, culturally, in terms of our international partnerships, than any two nations on the face of the Earth -- closer friends than any two nations on the face of the Earth. And I think we can safely predict that in four years' time, we will be in exactly the same spot," Obama commented.
The two leaders also announced the establishment of a joint U.S.-Canadian "clean energy dialogue" to work together to fight global warming. It will "strengthen our joint research and development," Obama said. "It will advance carbon reduction technologies. And it will support the development of an electric grid that can help deliver the clean and renewable energy of the future to homes and businesses, both in Canada and the United States.”
In Afghanistan, Canada is focused primarily on training the Afghan army, Harper said, "So the Afghans themselves can become responsible for their day-to-day security." Harper said Canada takes "security concerns as seriously as our American friends" and expressed confidence that the relationship between the two countries will remain strong regardless of any current differences.”
