(Failing at) Crafting Public Speech

There has been a few incidents lately in the media that Obama-critics have jumped on to get a few seconds of media-attention.  The first one was on last week on Jay Leno and the second one was yesterday on 60 minutes.

Toward the end of the interview on Thursday last week, Obama told host of The Tonight Show, Jay Leno, that he’s been practicing at the White House’s bowling alley but hasn’t been happy with his score of 129. Leno complimented Obama on the score, but the president joked, “It was like theSpecial Olympicsor something”.   After realizing the unintended meaning, it’s been announced that he called Tim Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics, to apologize.

And then yesterday, on 60 minutes the President was caught off-guard for a smile and day-dreaming about another issue when Steve Croft was discussing serious issues with Economy with the President.  The transcript of the interview are available on the Huffington Post here but the excerpt of the conversation is noted below.

STEVE KROFT VO:
ON THE SUBJECT OT THE AILING AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY THE PRESIDENT SAID HE IS STILL COMMITTED TO HELPING GENERAL MOTORS AND CHRYSLER AVERT BANKRUPTCY, BUT HE SAYS THEY HAVE YET TO DEMONSTRATE THEY CAN REMAIN ECONOMICALLY VIABLE. AND THERE ARE MAJOR POLITICAL OBSTACLES.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
I just want to say that– the only thing less popular than putting money into banks is putting money (LAUGHS) into the auto industry. So–

STEVE KROFT:
18 percent are in favor.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
(LAUGHS) That’s–

STEVE KROFT:
Seventy-six percent against.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
It– it– it’s not a high number.

STEVE KROFT:
You’re sitting here. And you’re– you are laughing. You are laughing about some of these problems. Are people going to look at this and say, “I mean, he’s sitting there just making jokes about (LAUGHTER) money–” How do you deal with– I mean, wh– explain -

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
Well–

STEVE KROFT:
–the mood and your laughter.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
Yeah, I mean, there’s got to be–

STEVE KROFT:
Are you punch drunk?

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
No, no. There’s gotta be a little gallows humor to (LAUGHS) get you through the day. You know, sometimes my team– talks about the fact that if– if you had said to us a year ago that– the least of my problems would be Iraq, which is still a pretty serious problem– I don’t think anybody would have believed it. But– but we’ve got a lot on our plate. And– a lot of difficult decisions that we’re going to have to make.

Obama recorded with Jay Leno – commented on AIG Bonuses

The president Barack Obama taped this evening’s Tonight Show, catch it on NBC 11:35 p.m ET tonight. Amongst several things discussed and jokes made (about his bowling skills), the president discussed the hot-button issue of AIG giving out lavish bonuses with the bail-out money.

As per MSNBC, during the taping the president noted the legal necessity at time of most of what went wrong at insurance giant AIG and other financial firms. “People just had this general attitude of entitlement,” the president said. “The immediate bonuses that went to AIG were a problem, but we have to get back to an attitude where people know enough is enough. If we can get back to those values that built America, then I think we’re going to be OK.”

Americans should have faith in the banking system, the president said. The money in their accounts is safe. Other than that, though, he would leave financial advice to others.

This comes today when in a move to quell the growing outrage over the massive bonuses given to employees of companies such as AIG, the U.S. House of Representatives voted earlier today to heavily tax the money doled out by large companies that took federal bailout money.

Approved with 328 votes (93 against), the bill is intended to levy a 90% tax on the bonuses of any employee making more than $250,000 at any company that received federal bailout money. This type of blanket policy although is well-intended is not a very representative of the capitalist society. The New York City with an estimated ($-3 million) tax revenue as per this article is amongst one of the losers from this move.

AIG Bonuses discussed

The government-appointed CEO of AIG,  Edward Liddy was questioned today by US lawmakers who represent the furious tax-payers of America  about staggering bonuses paid by the bailed-out insurer.

President Obama also made a special address to this specific issue where the Government appointed official failed to protect the interest of US Tax payers.  The president’s words were, “Washington is all in a tizzy and everybody is pointing fingers at each other and saying it’s their fault, the Democrats’ fault, the Republicans’ fault,” at a town hall meeting today.  He noted a strong personal attachment with, “Listen, I’ll take responsibility. I’m the President.”

Liddy said he had no legal choice over paying out the “distasteful” bonuses of 165 million dollars, but vowed that American International Group was learning from its mistakes after it was saved from bankruptcy last September.  Edward Liddy accepted that “Mistakes were made at AIG on a scale few could have ever imagined possible,” at a packed hearing of the House subcommittee on capital markets, according to his prepared remarks.

Tresury secretory, Tim Geithner said late yesterday that he was demanding AIG repay the lavish bonuses it gave out last week, mainly to the very London-based traders who crippled the company and helped trigger the global financial crisis.  President noted that “no body is working harder than this guy (secretory Geithner)”.

Edward Liddy announced at the hearing that he has asked AIG employees who received more than $100,000 in bonuses to return half of the amount, and for all higher-up executives receiving bonuses to return them in full.

White House officials had expected questions about AIG, given the furor over the $165 million in bonuses given to officials at the company, which has received $180 billion in government aid.   There is discussion about taxing these by 90% to 100% to recoup the entire amounts of the bonuses paid.

Read/view a well covered report on this issue at PBS here

It is rather interesting that the hard time brings out the most evil in not only people, but also the society!  Is this the end of capitalism and start of socialism?  Where the government can engage in such behavior of punishing individuals after given the power it holds?  Is it really fair for the government to not assume these losses and start such discussions?  On the other hand, is it really fair for these individuals to abuse their contractual positions and take-away their bonuses, which were intended to reward their competence when used to help the company?  Where do you draw the moral line?

Organizing For America – Emails are trickling in again…

During the pre-election days, it was once a week, or sometimes multiple times a week that someone from Obama’s campaign team would email everyone subscribed to updates with the agenda of raising funds. The format would be: Discuss an ongoing topic, provide news and how additional funds could help the cause and discussion. And finally a request to raise the funds.

It seems that these have gone up again in recent couple of weeks, and although it is not election times, emails with similar content have started to trickle-in. It is certainly a valid cause for the “Organizing For America” team to send out these mass emails for raising funds and t0 also discuss awareness of ongoing issues.

It is however interesting that in an email sent today, there is no direct mentions of fund-raising. Instead, the focus seems to have shifted for a different agenda: A strategic attack on criticism of the budget. It appears that the team wants to utilize the champions of the community to discuss the budget, and seek pledges from those who support the plan, or are Obama-fans. It is selective marketing of the president’s agenda, and it certainly is a new tool the Obama team is using. Why rely on externally measured approval ratings when you can produce your own numbers to show and assess beforehand.

Attached is an email from Mitch Stewart, a Director at Organizing for America.

Disclaimer as noted on the email:

Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee — 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

Email Body

XXXX –

The current debate in Washington over President Obama’s budget has made one thing clear — ensuring our long-term prosperity won’t come without a fight.

Partisan voices and special interests are showing real resistance to President Obama’s call for making the necessary reforms and investments in energy, health care, and education. That’s why we need to bring the conversation back into homes and communities across America.

Last week, thousands of you pledged your support for the President’s economic plan and encouraged your friends and family to join you in a national display of support. Now I need you to take the next step.

This weekend, supporters like you are organizing Pledge Project Canvasses to talk to people in their communities about this plan and mobilize support in neighborhoods across the country.

Host or attend a Pledge Project Canvass in your neighborhood this weekend.

It’s absolutely crucial that Americans hear from you about this plan — we can’t leave this important debate up to a Washington establishment that doesn’t welcome change.

It’s up to you to show Washington that Americans are demanding this new direction and won’t stand on the sidelines while our country’s future is at stake.

On these canvasses, you’ll join fellow supporters in your community to:

• Talk with people about the President’s plan
• Ask them to sign their names to the pledge
• Provide information on how to contact and urge their elected representatives to support the plan

Host or attend a canvass this weekend:

http://my.barackobama.com/pledgecanvass

Nothing is more powerful than having people hear from ordinary Americans about the vision President Obama has laid out for our country. Join us this weekend.

Thanks,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

Creating jobs: for illegal immigrants?

There has been several criticisms of Obama’s jumbo spending bill, and the latest one to the pact is about employing everyone, including illegal immigrants. The version of the stimulus bill that Obama signed eliminates any requirement of employers to validate citizenship, some say. An article by USA today mentions the following:

“Studies by two conservative think tanks estimate immigrants in the United States illegally could take 300,000 construction jobs, or 15% of the 2 million jobs that new taxpayer-financed projects are predicted to create.

They fault Congress for failing to require that employers certify legal immigration status of workers before hiring by using a Department of Homeland Security program called E-Verify. The program allows employers to check the validity of Social Security numbers provided by new hires. It is available to employers on a voluntary basis.”

Given the credibility of USA today, I had to verify myself on this. So I headed over to http://readthestimulus.org to find the facts. As per the website-text and the PDF. Here are the facts:

Original Bill – House Democrats 1/23/09 [Page 15]

SEC. 1114. REQUIRED PARTICIPATION IN E-VERIFY PROGRAM.

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to enter into a contract with an entity that does not participate in the E-verify program described in section 401(b) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note). Subtitle B—Accountability in Recovery Act Spending

Final Bill – H.R. 1: Final Stimulus Version [Page 278]

SEC. 1853. VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR PROGRAM BENEFITS.

Section 239 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2311), as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(k) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR PROGRAM BENEFITS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An agreement under this subchapter shall provide that the State shall periodically redetermine that a worker receiving benefits under this subchapter who is not a citizen or national of the United States remains in a satisfactory immigration status. Once satisfactory immigration status has been initially verified through the immigration status verification system described in section 1137(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-7(d)) for purposes of establishing a worker’s eligibility for unemployment compensation, the State shall reverify the worker’s immigration status if the documentation provided during initial verification will expire during the period in which that worker is potentially eligible to receive benefits under this subchapter. The State shall conduct such redetermination in a timely manner, utilizing the immigration status verification system described in section 1137(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-7(d)).

‘‘(2) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall establish procedures to ensure the uniform application by the States of the requirements of this subsection.’’.

Final Bill H.R.1 Page 278

So it appears that the claims have valid basis for some fear of leakage. However, if states did complete their own due-diligence, as required by the bill, the possibilities of illegal-immigrant employment will be minimal. After-all, the bill does hold states accountable for the funds received for any of the stimulus distributions.

On the other hand, with so many scandals coming up at state levels (NY, NJ, IL) in just past couple of years, it is no doubt concerning when the states get to regulate the spending of Federal funds. Furthermore, this does not establish a solid guideline that can be managed centrally, and each state, depending on the illegal-work-leakage, may be able to establish different policies of accepted level of verifications.

Picking up the ‘Pork’- 2009 Budget – Omnibus bill

History lesson on the 2009 budget bill, which is now being considered by the Senate. Bush administration drafted and submitted the original version to the congress in October 2008. At the time for congressional Democrats were mainly responsible for delaying passage of the final spending bill for fiscal 2009 until after the election, when they could have a Democrat in the White House, which is now the case. Had it passed then, it would have been effective from October 1, 2008 until September 31, 2009. However, with a stronghold of the democrats at the time, Congress passed a stopgap bill to fund the country until March 2009, awaiting and hoping a change in the office.

With the slightly reformed budget-bill, omnibus, coming to a Senate vote as early as tomorrow some Bush projects and policies have been deleted, and the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now included transparently for the first time instead of being funded separately as done previously. This version of the 2009 budget, known as the Omnibus Budget Bill, contains at least 8500+ earmarks costing $7+ billion based on different estimates (One estimate from Taxpayers for Common Sense is here).

Obama has repeatedly stated his objections to earmarks, but this bill seems to be grandfathered for that policy. The bill would be effective from April 1, until September 31^st. 2009 if passed without delays. It does not fare well for the tune President Obama has been singing pre-election, about steering clear of ear-marks and pork-barrel projects.

Administration officials argue that this bill completes funding for the previous fiscal year through September 2009, and should have been completed under President Bush. “This is last year’s business. We just want to move on,” said president’s budget director, Peter Orszag.

Senators John McCain (R) of Arizona and Russ Feingold (D) of Wisconsin had proposed giving the president a line-item veto, which would have allowed the chief executive the ability to “clean up” legislation loaded with pork, as originally noted by Senator McCain.

Some of the interesting ear-marks are noted below (with the sources reporting them)

• Flood control and protection along the Guadalupe River: $5 million
• Aid for planned Bio-Info-Nano Research and Development Institute at Ames Research Park: $1.8 million
• Several juvenile justice projects: $3 million
• I-880/I-280/Stevens Creek Boulevard interchange (a project estimated to cost $150 million): $950,000
• Silicon Valley small business assistance portal: $245,643
• San Jose Police mobile identification and records: $695,000
• Silicon Valley Education Foundation: $190,000
• $237,500 earmark for expanding the Japanese-American Museum in San Jose
• $1.4 million for a solar project in San Mateo
  
• $4 million for salt pond restoration in the South Bay
  
• $7.9 million for a bus project in the Livermore-Pleasanton area.

Source: Mercurynews.com

• $713,625 Woody Biomass at SUNY-ESF. Walsh and Schumer sponsors
• $951,500 Sustainable Las Vegas. Berkeley and Reid sponsors.
• $24,000 A+ for Abstinence. Specter is sponsor.
• $300,000 Montana World Trade Center. Rehberg sponsor.
• $950,000 Myrtle Beach International Trade and Convention Center. Graham sponsor.
• $200,000 Oil Region Alliance. Peterson sponsor.
• $190,000 Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY for digitizing and editing the Cody collection. Barbara Cubin is the sponsor
• $143,000 Las Vegas Natural History Museum, Las Vegas, NV, to expand natural history education programs. Sponsored by Harry Reid
• $238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Honolulu, HI, for educational programs. Sen. Daniel Inouye is the sponsor.
• $381,000 for Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York, NY for music education programs. Jerrold Nadler is the sponsor.

Source: Taxpayers For Common Sense

Additional read: Winners and Losers of the Omnibus bill by Fox News.

President approves Stem-cell research

President Barack Obama lifted some of the restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research this Morning. This has caused anger amongst many abortion opponents but has cheered those who believe the study could produce treatments for many diseases.

The president said, “The full promise of stem cell research remains unknown, and it should not be overstated,” at a White House meeting. “But scientists believe these tiny cells may have the potential to help us understand, and possibly cure, some of our most devastating diseases and conditions.”

This was on the bottom of the list of president’s Technology Agenda.

There probably are no short-term gains from this to impact the economy.  However, this can help strengthen some of the healthcare advancements to be achieved in the USA.

Read more

Budget FY2010 [A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise]

How boring of everyone else to call their budgets as Fiscal Year ####!

This budget, Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, is as fancy as any of the President Obama’s other electronic presence. The full text of the budget “A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America’s Promise” is available on the website of the Office of Management and Budget, at www.WhiteHouse.gov/OMB/Budget. If you prefer a direct link to the text – just click on the image.

Read the full remarks of the President Obama at the whitehouse.gov website here. Yes, the president sounds very optimistic and has big plans for cutting the country’s deficit. The president said, “as we develop a full budget that will come out this spring, we’re going to go through our books page by page, line by line, to eliminate waste and inefficiency. This is a process that will take some time, but in the last 30 days alone, we have already identified $2 trillion in deficit reductions that will help us cut our deficit in half by the end of my first term.”

What does this mean for all of us? It means living within our ‘current’ means, cutting down costs, and eventually paying more taxes, direct or indirect.

Obama’s follow up to his first joint session of Congress

Once again, the president is following up with the members who joined his grass-root movement, or signed up for his emails… It was interesting that this time around it was a day later. Prior to the elections, things were very quick. There were even announcements prior to the event. And after the elections, it seems that these communications tend to be fewer, and delayed. Nevertheless, it is the follow up that counts, so here is his email –

[My Name]–

Last night, I addressed a joint session of Congress for the first time.

To confront the serious economic challenges our nation faces, I called for a new era of responsibility and cooperation. We need to look beyond short term political calculations and make vital investments in health care, energy, and education that will make America stronger and more prosperous well into the future.

Watch a few highlights from my address and share it with your friends now:

A little more than a month into my administration, we’ve already taken bold steps to address our urgent economic problems.

Through the Recovery Act, the Stability Plan, and the Housing Plan, we’re taking the immediate necessary measures to halt our economic downturn and provide much-needed assistance to working people and their families.

But to set our country on a new course of stability and prosperity, we must reject the old ways of doing business in Washington. We can no longer tolerate fiscal deficits and runaway spending while deferring the consequences to future generations.

That’s why I pledged last night to cut our deficit in half by the end of my term. Achieving that goal will require making sacrifices and hard decisions, as well as an honest budgeting process that is straight with taxpayers about where their dollars are going.

Watch some key moments from my address now:

http://my.barackobama.com/presidentialaddress

Central to this plan will be a renewed commitment to honesty and transparency in government. Restoring our country’s economic health will only happen when ordinary citizens are given the opportunity to hold their representatives fully accountable for the decisions they make.

I look forward to continuing to work with you as we bring about the change you made possible.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

First Address to the Joint Congress Session

President gave a very impressive, sincere, thoughtful and engaging address during his first appearance before a joint session of Congress.  He does seem to have a good grasp of the issues we as a culture face, and some of the root habits that has brought us to the point of current financial depression era.  In the statement below, he very succinctly lays out some of the basic problems that we as a country, we as people and we as a culture have to fix.

The fact is, our economy did not fall into decline overnight.  Nor did all of our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank. We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy.  Yet we import more oil today than ever before.  The cost of health care eats up more and more of our savings each year, yet we keep delaying reform.  Our children will compete for jobs in a global economy that too many of our schools do not prepare them for.  And though all these challenges went unsolved, we still managed to spend more money and pile up more debt, both as individuals and through our government, than ever before.

In other words, we have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election.  A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future.  Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market.  People bought homes they knew they couldn’t afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway.  And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day.

The president seems determined to drive a change from the deep roots.  The skeptic in me still wants to follow the president on the journey of change, not only in his people, but also on a global mind-set.  Some of these things are easier said than done, but in tracking the initiatives last few weeks it does appear that the President is willing to take every step necessary to establish a legacy, and earn it fully.

He is not only acting swiftly where needed but also following up on previous proposals.  He has struck again on the issue of fair-pay, and lavish wall-street bonuses amid recession and financial crisis.  He alerted for all entities with a Government stake about transparency and accountability.  [Or well, at least a notion of accountability].  This is something shareholders should have voiced, but with all the day-trading, and lack of any long-term interests in the company in today’s age of ‘instant-gratification’; we all have forgotten to hold the managements of public companies responsible of their fiduciary duties.

“I intend to hold these banks fully accountable for the assistance they receive, and this time, they will have to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars result in more lending for the American taxpayer.  This time, CEOs won’t be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet.  Those days are over. ” said Obama

Green painters will make lot’s of  Green: With president’s reiterated support for Energy sustainability, and big goals of foreign energy independence, it is going to be a bigger push and bigger prosperity to the Energy sector.  This will not only benefit alternative energy industry, but also traditional energy companies who will be required to update their distribution systems, their power-plants, their investments with the help of funding available with the Government focus on this area.  The president said

“Thanks to our recovery plan, we will double this nation’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years. We have also made the largest investment in basic research funding in American history — an investment that will spur not only new discoveries in energy, but breakthroughs in medicine, science, and technology.

We will soon lay down thousands of miles of power lines that can carry new energy to cities and towns across this country. And we will put Americans to work making our homes and buildings more efficient so that we can save billions of dollars on our energy bills.”

He has a very ambitious agenda that involves health-care reform, cutting deficit, reducing unemployment, achieving energy sustainability and energy independence, establishing US as the next leader in the innovations and technologies around alternative energy, safe-guarding economy, restoring social-security and stronger education amongst a few.  He has brought various proposals, started various committees, gathered substantial funding, and began to put wheels in motion.   And even a month after his appointment, he does not seem to be slowing down.

Get the full transcript of his address at whitehouse.gov page here