Quibbles and Bits – 2/4/09

1) I suppose by now Democrats in Congress know that Obama is just as likely to roll over them as anyone. While the party threw caution, rules and its reputation to the wind in its devotion to the One, Obama continues to show he isn’t a party guy.

Politico has a short bit about the stimulus bill and how one democrat was supposedly supported by the WH in his vote against the bill.

Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) — one of the lead Blue Dogs — made a startling admission to lefty Liberadio on Sunday, suggesting the White House quietly encouraged him to buck House leadership on the stimulus.

Cooper was one of 11 Dems to vote no — joining every GOP House member.

“Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but I actually got some quiet encouragement from the Obama folks for what I’m doing,” said Cooper, one of about 55 House Democrats to sign a letter criticizing Speaker Nancy Pelosi for suspending normal debate and committee rules on the $819 billion package.

Cooper actually said more. While Harry Reid has been weakened in the Senate by his ham-fisted and just-plain-stupid handling of Obama’s senate seat, Pelosi seems to be getting the business now. It certainly looks as if the BO administration isn’t worried about the effects or even the appearance of deliberately weakening its own congressional leadership. Curious.

Now, I got in terrible trouble with our leadership because they don’t care what’s in the bill, they just want it pass and they want it to be unanimous. They don’t mind the partisan fighting cause that’s what they are used to. In fact, they’re really good at it. And they’re a little bit worried about what a post-partisan future might look like. If members actually had to read the bills and figure out whether they are any good or not. We’re just told how to vote. We’re treated like mushrooms most of the time.”

FWIW, I’m not really sure I buy the idea that Cooper simply “let fly” during an interview. I doubt he’d say things like this without feeling he might have backup. However, figuring out what his angle is and who is suggesting he say these things is more of a puzzle.

2) USAToday has an op-ed about how the Obama honeymoon keeps rolling on.

One of the great tests of news media bias is when the storyline has become unfalsifiable. With George W. Bush, no matter what he did, the facts always seemed to prove he was to blame. With Obama, no matter what he does, he’s always the hero. For instance, during a trip to China in 2005, then-President Bush tried to open a locked door while leaving a news conference, and the press tittered at his buffoonery. Yet last week, when President Obama walked into an Oval Office window that he thought was a door, much of the news media looked the other way — perhaps recognizing his genius at spotting where a door should have been.

Bush’s love of exercise was analyzed as a troubling obsession of an out-of-touch president. Obama’s fixation with physical fitness gives numerous reporters hope that he will alleviate America’s obesity epidemic. In a front-page exclusive, The Washington Post revealed that on Obama’s recent vacation, the Hawaiian “sun glinted off (his) chiseled pectorals sculpted during four weightlifting sessions each week, and a body toned by regular treadmill runs and basketball games.”

A more serious example can be found in some of the news coverage of the stimulus bill. Obama made it his top priority to get bipartisan support for his unprecedented spending bill. The president exerted enormous personal effort to sway House Republicans to his cause but failed to win a single GOP vote, and he even lost 11 Democrats. And yet the Post reported in another front-page article that the Democratic House’s passage of the bill — which was always assured — “marked a big victory for his presidency a little more than a week into his term.” Indeed, it’s hard to see how anything short of a crushing defeat would be described as anything other than a “big victory.”

3) The Telegraph also has something to say about “change you can believe in” since so many Obama nominees for office have problems with taxes.

“If you are a lobbyist entering my administration, you will not be able to work on matters you lobbied on, or in the agencies you lobbied during the previous two years,” Mr Obama had said. He neglected to add the footnote: “Except when it suits us otherwise.”
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White House officials brief that change is hard: that a few veteran Washington insiders will be needed to help dismantle the system that benefits entrenched interests.

The problem is, a pattern is emerging. The new treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner – who oversees the Internal Revenue Service, America’s equivalent of the H M Revenue and Customs – apologised profusely for failing to pay $34,000 in taxes and survived. Yesterday, Nancy Killefer, who was to be federal “chief performance officer”, stood down for failing to pay employment taxes for her house cleaner. Now Mr Obama has been forced to jettison Mr Daschle, an early supporter who provided key staff and access to an invaluable political network. The loss of two nominees in a single day will inevitably raise questions over his judgment.

I wish I could believe Obama’s judgment will be questioned. It hasn’t happened so far and I’m skeptical anyone other than bloggers will have the stones.

4) Politico has an interview with Dick Cheney. Nothing really new, but it’s interesting the press averse Cheney is suddenly willing to talk.

And he asserted that President Obama will either backtrack on his stated intentions to end those policies or put the county at risk in ways more severe than most Americans—and, he charged, many members of Obama’s own team—understand.

I thought that Cheney would just go back into whatever dark place he lives in. Apparently not. But that, in itself, is interesting. . .

5) Politico has another BO campaign promise that seems to be going the way of the dinosaur and the dodo.

Obama appears poised to break his campaign pledge to give the public five days to review a bill before he signs it.

Obama scheduled a bill signing for 4:35 p.m. Wednesday, even though the House has yet to vote on the legislation expanding a children’s health insurance program. The legislation is expected to win final approval only hours before the president will make it law.

The quick turnaround breaches Obama’s promise to offer “sunlight before signing,” a concept he detailed on the campaign trail and on his website.

Looks like that whole transparency thing is giving BO fits.

Politico cites a very useful site: St Petersburg Times’ Politifact.com. This site is tracking BO promises and what is happening to them. Worth checking out.