October 22, 2009 – 11:48 am
I think it’s refreshing when someone in Washington who has some skin in the game — a politician, an Administration official — tells a basic truth plainly. The latest example is Larry Summers, President Obama’s top economic policy adviser, who addressed economic recovery, debt, and stimulus at yesterday’s Reuters Washington Summit. Asked whether stimulus measures […]
October 19, 2009 – 11:20 am
In his weekly address Saturday, President Obama reminded Americans that last November we “went to the polls in historic numbers and demanded change.” We “sought a change in our politics: a politics that too often has … fostered division.” Oddly enough, he said this mere seconds after claiming that America’s health insurance industry is “deceptive […]
October 9, 2009 – 12:52 pm
NEW YORK — Responding to this morning’s stunning announcement that U.S. President Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced that Mr. Obama has also won the 2009 World Series. The remainder of baseball’s playoffs will be canceled. “I think we all saw when the president threw […]
October 9, 2009 – 9:47 am
Apparently I underestimated the power of President Obama’s speeches. They just won him a Nobel Peace Prize. You may recall that Barack Obama was elected president of the United States less than a year ago and since then, well, it’s been tough. Economy’s been roughed up; automakers needed bailouts; he can’t figure out what to […]
October 1, 2009 – 8:49 am
Politico’s Mike Allen prints a White House statement about the National Security Council meeting held yesterday to discuss the president’s options in Afghanistan. Conclusion: The best way forward is more meetings – at least three more in the White House and many more with Congress, a process that will take weeks. This is the president’s prerogative. […]
September 24, 2009 – 10:04 am
Sarah Palin spoke on Wednesday to an investor conference in Hong Kong. The Wall Street Journal published excerpts. Recognizing the limitations of reading excerpts, a few concerns arose. Governor Palin’s remarks were organized under a loose banner of “common sense.” For instance, she described herself as a “common sense conservative” and said “common sense” is […]
September 23, 2009 – 11:25 am
Congress’s most notable First Amendment warrior, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, is a little steamed about Democrats’ latest efforts to squelch opposition to government health care. You may have seen that Humana, a health insurance company and provider of Medicare services under the Medicare Advantage plan, sent a letter to its customers letting them know […]
September 22, 2009 – 10:06 am
Last night, President Obama appeared on Late Show with David Letterman to reaffirm his position that people who oppose government health care are nuts, while he is just another in a string of great leaders who’ve tried to “bring about significant changes” in American life. You know, FDR, Reagan, Obama. (I think I found a kindred […]
September 18, 2009 – 10:06 am
Yesterday President Obama spoke to college students at the University of Maryland and, through Facebook, across the land. After getting everyone ginned up about the awesomeness of his election, and their part in it, the president said: There are still those in Washington who are resistant to change – who are more willing to defend […]
September 17, 2009 – 11:45 am
The Wall Street Journal news pages are following up on a contention made in an op-ed the newspaper ran, namely that President Obama was a little loose with the facts in his big health care speech. In an article headlined “Obama Used Faulty Anecdote in Speech to Congress,” reporter Jonathan Weisman writes: President Barack Obama, […]
September 16, 2009 – 12:01 am
As I mentioned last week, Matt Latimer, a former Bush Administration speechwriter, has written a book. Given his recent Washington Post op-ed, in which he hyperventilated about firing presidential speechwriters and took a crack at Karl Rove, I assumed the book’s thesis would annoy me. Turns out I was right. An excerpt appears in October’s […]
September 15, 2009 – 10:54 am
There’s been way too much talking recently. And it just gets people in trouble and drains seconds out of our lives. We’d be better off if these people would shut the hell up: Rep. Joe Wilson. No need to be shouting things at the president on the House floor. Thank you for apologizing. But you’re not […]
September 14, 2009 – 10:42 am
Concern was registered the other day about Republicans in 1937 “stirring up ignorance and prejudice and blind fears.” No doubt a dark chapter in American public life. I remember my great-grandparents telling me they were livid about it. But it seems like some people never learn. Turns out President Obama may not have told the whole […]
September 14, 2009 – 9:52 am
This morning, former Clinton Administration Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman discussed an array of issues on CNBC. Asked by Erin Burnett whether taxes on health care companies to pay for reform will be passed on to consumers through higher prices for health insurance, Altman candidly replied (at about the 5:30 mark): Well I think everyone […]
September 11, 2009 – 1:30 pm
More on White House speechwriting in September 2001. Though the period was obviously full of tension and concern, there were several lighthearted moments, too. For instance, at one meeting – it might have been on September 12th – when the speech staff was spit-balling ideas for the president’s sure-to-come address to the nation, one of […]
