In an address Friday, President Barack Obama orders that flags be flown at half staff until Veterans Day in remembrance of those killed at Fort Hood on Thursday. Obama cautions against speculation about the mass shootings, but says that the White House will provide updates about the shootings as available. (1:32)
By Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) accused the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats Friday of mishandling the U.S. economy following the Labor Department’s announcement that unemployment has hit 10.2%,
“Today’s report is yet another reminder that American families and small businesses are still struggling, and the White House response is falling short,” said Boehner.
Boehner pointed to failed promises and exorbitant spending, citing the Democrats’ health care reform bill and stimulus plan as steps that will plunge the U.S. further into debt.
“Since the stimulus plan was signed into law, more than three million private sector jobs have been lost,” said Boehner “Now, Speaker Pelosi is pressing ahead with a $1.3 trillion government takeover of health care, endorsed by President Obama, that will destroy 5.5 million jobs according to methodology developed by his own senior economist.”
U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Penn.) says it’s time for President Obama to “step up” on health care reform and play a more active role than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). (0:32)
Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) says that since the stimulus package was passed the U.S. has lost 3 million jobs. (0:09)
International attorney Robert Amsterdam says that President Barack Obama should express displeasure to Brazilan President Luiz Lula over the fact that Lula has invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit his country next month. Amsterdam, who recently returned from a visit of his own to Brazil, says that Lula is using the “politics of opportunism” to distance his nation politically from the United States. (:34)
At a speech he delivered Wednesday afternoon, President Barack Obama made clear that “it is essential to make more credit available to smaller banks and community financial institutions that these businesses depend on”. (0:21)
By Meagan Wiseley, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
-Recovery Act
Robert Gibbs introduced Jared Bernstein and Melody Barnes to discuss the report released this morning on education-based jobs saved by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Bernstein, the Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, said that preliminary recipient data that is coming in to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board shows 250,000 education jobs saved or created. These jobs are a subset of the 1 million jobs saved or created thus far through the act, which leaves the Economic Council on track to accomplish the stated goal of saving or creating 3.5 million jobs by later next year.
Bernstein added that the data reflects direct jobs, or jobs that are directly created and funded through spending in the Recovery Act. The Council of Economic Advisers has estimated that the Act has saved about 1 million jobs so far, and this estimate includes direct and indirect jobs.
Bernstein said this is clearly the most transparent and accountable treatment of a government program that has ever been seen before.
Barnes, the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, said the Recovery Act has made schools able to avert massive layoffs and also created jobs for educators in the pre-kindergarten, K-12 and higher education fields.
Barnes pointed out that preventing layoffs averted class size expansion, which has been a concern in the educational context.
Additionally, Barnes said reforms have been put in place to increase standards and assessments, teacher effectiveness and student progress tracking. An extended school day and school year for struggling schools has also been implemented.
When asked how the revenues to keep the new jobs in place when the federal dollars from the Recovery Act money are gone, Barnes said the administrations was very cognizant of such a scenario when developing the Recovery Act and that it was created in the context of the economy improving. Thus, states would be able to support these jobs and increases once the economy strengthens.
-Afghanistan
On the possibility of a runoff election in Afghanistan, Gibbs said that, in his assessment, General McChrystal knew the election would be taken into account. Gibbs said a sizable American force in Afghanistan must be met with a credible partner, and that, without a credible partner, no one involved can make a difference. Gibbs said he is supportive of Deputy Chairman of NATO, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry’s plan to work with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on this matter.
Gibbs refused to comment on hypothetical situations regarding a future election, but did say the administration is encouraging processes by the Afghan people to choose a candidate that is legitimate.
-Health Care Reform
On Heath Care reform, Gibbs said the administration is working to ensure choice and competition in the insurance market. He said the President has been clear on his preference for a public option to be in the final bill.
-Sudan
On Sudan, Gibbs said a comprehensive policy is needed to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Gibbs said there is pressure being put on the Sudanese government, and if steps are taken to address components of this issue by the government, there will be incentives.
-Iran
On Iran, Gibbs said that Iran has an opportunity and a responsibility to demonstrate to the world their purpose for a nuclear program. He said the U.S. obligation is to get a sizable amount of low enriched uranium out of Iran in order to make the world more secure.
-Economy
On the financial sector, and Godlman Sachs/JP Morgan executive bonuses, Gibbs said the administration does not want to be in the business of executive compensation. He said last September that the American people went through great lengths to make sure the financial system didn’t collapse. He said the banks are equally as responsible to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) says human rights advocacy has taken a backseat in Congress, at the White House, and in both parties. He says the President’s decision to not meet with the Dalai Lama is an example of such absence. (0:23)
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) says he sent President Barack Obama a letter urging the administration to refrain from granting the government of Sudan access to a Washington, D.C. lobbyist. (0:25)
By Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf’s (R-Va.) objection to a Sudan lobbyist presence in Washington, D.C. didn’t find much of an audience Thursday, but the Congressman moved past the small crowd, calling on President Barack Obama to reject the Sudanese government’s prospective representation at the Capitol.
“Today, I am sending a letter to President Obama urging him to make it clear, in no uncertain terms, to both the State Department and the Treasury Department’s office of Foreign Assests Control, that under his administration, the government of Khartoum, will not be granted the necessary waiver to hire a lobbyist,” Wolf said. “A modern day accused war criminal is sitting as a head of the state of government of Sudan.”
Wolf noted Sudan President Omar al-Bashir’s March 2009 arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, and said in June 2004, he was part of a delegation of Congressmen who went to Sudan, where he witnessed what he described as “the nightmare.”
When al-Bashir was issued an ICC warrant, the Sudan government said they did not recognize the ICC as a legitimate agency.
Wolf said new consideration of Sudanese representation in the nation’s capital, “would be a disgrace and must not be permitted to take place under any circumstances.”
The Sudan government has not been represented in Washington, D.C. for more than four years, largely due to what the U.S. government once said was genocide in the country’s Darfur region.
