NewsTrust - U.S. White House - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Mainstream)

Obama battles great racial divide

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Kansas City Star - By Yael T. Abouhalkah - Sep. 17 (Editorial) - Obama doesn't want this furor on his hands right now, given all the incredibly important policy decisions he's handling. But critics are off base when they carp about Carter and his comments. They were truthful. And they sting.

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Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Mehdi Hasan - Aug. 24 (Editorial) - So why are Republican politicians fanning the flames with talk of "death panels" and Nazism? Why are pundits like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh indulging in what the historian Richard Hoftstader described as the "paranoid style" in American politics? Do they really not understand that this hysterical wave of hatred and fury against Obama goes beyond healthcare reform, or party politicking, or even the country's so-called "culture wars", and now threatens the life of their elected head of state? Do they want to be held responsible, through their extreme and dishonest rhetoric and hate-filled divisiveness, for the death of America's first black president?

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Obama's crappy patio furniture

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

San Francisco Chronicle - By Peter Hartlaub - Aug. 01 (Opinion) - I can't believe the president doesn't have better patio furniture.

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She Broke the G.O.P. and Now She Owns It

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - Jul. 11 (Opinion) - As the Republicans’ lone charismatic performer, Sarah Palin has come to represent a dwindling white nonurban America that is aflame with grievances. Sarah Palin and Al Sharpton don’t ordinarily have much in common, but they achieved a rare harmonic convergence at Michael Jackson’s memorial service. When Sharpton told the singer’s children it was their daddy’s adversaries, not their daddy, who were “strange,” he was channeling the pugnacious argument the Alaska governor had made the week before. There was nothing strange about her decision to quit in midterm, Palin told America. What’s strange — or “insane,” in her lingo — are the critics who dare question her erratic behavior on the national stage.

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Health-Care Reform's Public Support Problem

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Ezra Klein - Jul. 09 (Opinion) - "If you can't reform the employer tax exclusion," a well-connected health-care reform advocate told me a few months ago, "you can't find the money to reform the health-care system." Harry Reid is now saying that there will be no reform of the employer tax exclusion. So can we still reform health care? Probably. By this point in the process, Max Baucus had backed so far down on the exclusion that it was going to raise only $300 billion or $400 billion over 10 years. That's not nothing, but it's not much more than, say, Barack Obama's idea for capping itemized deductions. The money can be found elsewhere.

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Obama enters decisive phase of presidency

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Financial Times - By Edward Luce - Jul. 02 (Opinion) - Barack Obama is gearing up for the most decisive phase of his presidency when the fate of his core legislative proposals will show whether he is capable of taming Washington or whether Washington will tame him. Critics and supporters see Mr Obama’s attempts to push his flagship healthcare reform through Congress this month as a critical test of the president’s pledge to take on Washington’s most powerful lobby groups.

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What the Nixon tapes tell us about the Republican Party.

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Slate - By Christopher Hitchens - Jul. 01 (Opinion) - I wonder sometimes whether the Nixon tapes really will just continue to be the gift that never stops giving. I was in college when Richard Milhous Nixon was first elected president, and I can still remember the profound sense of loathing and disgust that I experienced at the mere sight, let alone the sound, of him and of his most especially repellent sidekick Henry Kissinger. Wiser and older people tell you that the passions of your youth will dry up and that a more sere and autumnal condition will overtake you as maturity advances, but the thought of the Nixon gang in the White House still infuses me with a pure and undiluted hatred and makes me consider throwing up things that I don't even remember having eaten.

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A More Contentious Obama Press Conference

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

CBS News - By Brian Montopoli - Jun. 24 (Opinion) - Barack Obama's fourth solo White House press conference differed from his past efforts in many ways: It was held during the day instead of prime time. It was the first to be held in the briefing room. It featured a question that had been directly solicited by the White House.

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Welcome Back, Congress

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Dan Froomkin - Jun. 19 (Opinion) - If you believe in the legislative process -- if you actually believe that members of Congress have a role in formulating the laws of this land, rather than just rubber-stamping whatever the president wants -- then you really can't get freaked out when that process gets messy. It is a messy process. [Ed: This could be the last White House Watch column, as the WashPo just ended its relation with Dan Froomkin]

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Obama's Gifts To Brown Irk British Media

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

All Things Considered - By Robert Siegal, Ian Martin - Mar. 09 (Interview) - Only at the last moment was it agreed that there would be a small press conference, and, I think, it was read as a metaphor for the concern that Obama really just didn't like having the Brits in town," Martin says

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For Obama, 'change' doesn't come so easily

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Post Intelligencer - By Robert L. Jamieson Jr. - Feb. 26 (Opinion) - as the president's oratory filled televisions across the country, the words of another crossed my mind. Reflecting on the state of modern electoral democracy, the political writer and activist Arundhati Roy once suggested that it really doesn't matter which party leads America. "It's not a real choice," Roy said. "It's an apparent choice. Like choosing a brand of detergent. Whether you buy Ivory Snow or Tide, they're both owned by Procter & Gamble." Yes, Democrats and Republicans are vulnerable to pressure from lobbyists. Both kowtow to the rarified segment of political, economic and military brokers -- a posse the sociologist C. Wright Mills called the Power Elite. And both campaign in poetry to seduce the masses but switch to sobering prose when tough realities dawn and temper hope.

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Obama follows some of Bush's footsteps

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Post Intelligencer - By Helen Thomas - Feb. 22 (Opinion) - One judge asked the Justice Department lawyer if the change in administrations had any bearing on the case. "No, your honor," came the reply. According to The New York Times, "even the judges on the panel seemed surprised by the administration's decision to go forward" with the same argument.

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Transcript: Inaugural Address of Barack Obama

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Barack Obama - Jan. 20 (Speech) - Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

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How does the Bush presidency rate?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

BBC News - By Paul Reynolds - Jan. 09 (Opinion) - I suppose the underlying question here is whether George W Bush has been one of the worst US presidents. Many people have already made up their minds. For them, the invasion of Iraq was enough to put Mr Bush high on the list. And that was compounded by his lack of action elsewhere - with global warming and Hurricane Katrina as examples. Others will want to wait a bit and see what history decides. History can improve the image of a presidency.

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A Room With a View

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Peter Baker - Dec. 31 (Opinion) - At least he’ll have a good view of the White House. When President-elect Barack Obama moves to town this weekend, he will be staying in the famed Hay Adams Hotel just across Lafayette Park from his new digs.

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Little Town Beseeches Obama’s Health Chief - NYTimes.com

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Bob Driehaus - Dec. 30 (Editorial) - Former Senator Tom Daschle, whom President-elect Barack Obama has called the “lead architect” of the new administration’s efforts to expand health insurance and rein in medical costs, attended a community meeting Monday where he got an earful about expenses that were too high and coverage that was too little.

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I'm A Lefty And I Like Obama's Pick Of Rick Warren

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

All Things Considered - By David Weinberger - Dec. 18 (Opinion) - I'm a liberal. Free the whales. Tax the rich! I swear to you that not only do I drive a Prius, I turned in our Volvo for it. If you know any one of my political positions, you know them all. That's how embarrassingly stereotypical I am. So pardon me if I take a moment to give some advice to my fellow liberals and progressives: Chill out, will you? You're already out criticizing our president-elect for betraying our side. He's gone soft on wiretapping, on raising taxes on the wealthy, and now you're having conniptions because Barack Obama has invited the Rev. Rick Warren onto the inaugural podium. The shame! The horror! Rick Warren believes things that are anathema to liberals like me. Rick Warren is against abortion choice and totally against gay marriage. I'm from Massachusetts. I'm totally for both those things.

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Obama's Vast Grass-Roots Network

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By E. J. Dionne Jr - Nov. 21 (Opinion) - While the nation's capital obsesses over Barack Obama's next Cabinet pick, the president-elect's lieutenants are engaged with what may be a more important long-term issue: What will become of Obama's vast grass-roots network?

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What’s So Special About a Team of Rivals?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By James Oakes - Nov. 19 (Opinion) - INSPIRED by the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln, President-elect Barack Obama is considering appointing a “team of rivals” to his cabinet — if rumors about the nomination of Hillary Clinton to be secretary of state are true. But there’s more mythology than history in the idea that Lincoln showed exceptional political skill in offering cabinet positions to the men he had beaten in the race for the 1860 Republican nomination.

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Obama On Economic Crisis, Transition, Also Discusses National Security, Iraq, And His Cabinet

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

60 Minutes - By Steve Kroft - Nov. 17 (Interview) - Since Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States 12 days ago, he has largely remained out of sight, getting high-level government briefings and conferring with his transition team. But he surfaced on Friday afternoon in Chicago, alongside his wife Michelle to give 60 Minutes his first post-election interview.

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Bailout to Nowhere

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By David Brooks - Nov. 16 (Opinion) - Democrats from Barack Obama to Nancy Pelosi want to grant immortality to General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. They have decided to follow an earlier $25 billion loan with a $50 billion bailout, which would inevitably be followed by more billions later, because if these companies are not permitted to go bankrupt now, they never will be. This is a different sort of endeavor than the $750 billion bailout of Wall Street. That money was used to save the financial system itself. It was used to save the capital markets on which the process of creative destruction depends. Granting immortality to Detroit’s Big Three does not enhance creative destruction. It retards it. It crosses a line, a bright line. It is not about saving a system; there will still be cars made and sold in America. It is about saving politically powerful corporations. A Detroit bailout would set a precedent for every single politically connected corporation in America. There already is a long line of lobbyists bidding for federal money. If Detroit gets money, then everyone would have a case. After all, are the employees of Circuit City or the newspaper industry inferior to the employees of Chrysler? But this, apparently, is about to change. Democrats from Barack Obama to Nancy Pelosi want to grant immortality to General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. They have decided to follow an earlier $25 billion loan with a $50 billion bailout, which would inevitably be followed by more billions later, because if these companies are not permitted to go bankrupt now, they never will be. This is a different sort of endeavor than the $750 billion bailout of Wall Street. That money was used to save the financial system itself. It was used to save the capital markets on which the process of creative destruction depends.

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Why Obama should fill his Cabinet with geniuses.

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Slate - By Jacob Weisberg - Nov. 15 (Opinion) - Here's a radical suggestion: Barack Obama should pick the smartest people he can find for his Cabinet.

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Where Obama Can Be Bold

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Michael Gerson - Nov. 12 (Opinion) - His broad victory shouldn’t dictate that all his policies have broad appeal. There is a broad consensus that President-elect Obama's broad victory should be accompanied by broadly appealing policies and broad-minded appointments. The new president should follow the broad outlines of this advice -- except where he should completely ignore it.

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Hiring Emanuel shows Obama's hand

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Chicago Sun Times - By Carol Marin - Nov. 09 (Opinion) - If you hire a shark, does that make you a shark? If you send in an enforcer, are you, de facto, an enforcer, too? President-elect Barack Obama, practitioner of consensus and preacher of civility, made a singular statement by choosing Rep. Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff, the first hire of the new administration. "Brilliant, hardworking, in some ways he may be a good yin to Obama's yang. But I was very surprised because he has a very different personality type from those around Obama," longtime Chicago political consultant Kitty Kurth said by phone Thursday. "I had first met Rahm after the '88 presidential campaign, on Mayor Daley's '89 mayoral race. He was always brilliant but a complete hardball player. The first six or seven times I met him, he never remembered who I was. . . . I never had anything he needed, so he didn't need to know who I was."

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How They Would Lead

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Time - By David Von Drehle - Oct. 30 (Opinion) - Then one of them wins the election. In an instant, the winner is sucked through a wormhole back into the real world. A world in which Congress, not the President, writes all the laws and gets the last word on the budget. Where consumers decide which cars to drive and how many lights to burn. And where the clash of powerful interest groups makes it easier to do nothing about big problems than to tackle them. Even the strongest, wiliest, most effective Presidents must change shape and shift direction to accommodate these and other forces. An ability to alter course without losing one's way is essential to presidential success. "I claim not to have controlled events," Abraham Lincoln wrote, "but confess plainly that events have controlled me." As the sailor President Franklin D. Roosevelt understood, only rarely does a fair wind blow squarely at the President's back. More typical is the gale blowing from dead ahead or the deceptively strong crosswind. Sometimes the best that one can do is inch forward at an angle while struggling to avoid running aground.

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