Pres. Bill Clinton
- Democratic strategist James Carville wrote a piece this week for CNN advising President Barack Obama to "fire a lot of people" and bring in a new staff to give the White House a better image. He pointed to the fact that Clinton did it in 1994 -- and it worked.
- During this summer's debt ceiling debate, POLITICO reported that Clinton said he'd use the 14th amendment to raise it himself, “without hesitation."
- Over ten years ago, when the economy was entering a rocky time, The New York Times looked at the "good times" of the Clinton years and wrote, "Economists, historians and members of both parties will no doubt debate for years whether Mr. Clinton was lucky or good when it came to the economy."
- Shortly after an arduous campaign -- this time as the husband, not the candidate -- The New York Times wrote an article headlined, "The Mellowing of William Jefferson Clinton." In an interview for it, Clinton told Peter Baker, "I’ve got plenty to do. I’ve got a full life here. If I come up with an idea I think that’s helpful to them [the Obama administration], I give it to them ."
Sen. Mitch McConnell
- The Hill reports that Sen. McConnell said, "I think I can pretty confidently say everybody in the Republican conference of the Senate thinks that we need to quit doing what we’ve been doing — quit borrowing, quit spending, quit threatening to raise taxes and quit having a big wet blanket on top of the private sector of the economy by this explosion of regulations.”
- On the Senate Floor, Sen. McConnell said something similar, telling his colleagues that "it's time to change course," according to The Hill.
- The president is heading to McConnell's "home turf" soon to tout the very jobs plan that the senator has criticized already, according to the Washington Post.
Roundtable: Granholm, Castellanos, Halperin, Cooper
- In her new book, former Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) addresses the issue of jobs writing, “The nation needs to actively intervene to create jobs in America, for it won’t happen on its own.” Granholm’s book “A Governor’s Story: The fight for jobs and America’s future” will be released September 20. Watch her last appearance on MTP
- Republican strategist Alex Castellanos addressed President Obama’s jobs plan in Politico this week. He said, “the president says whirling all this money around is going to create or save 2 million jobs. One of them, he hopes, is his own.” Watch Castellanos’ last appearance on MTP.
- In a recent article for TIME magazine, Mark Halperin interviewed GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry who talks about his rise in the polls and controversial rhetoric. Perry said, “I think American citizens are just tired of this political correctness and politicians who are tiptoeing around important issues. They want a decisive leader. I’m comfortable that rhetoric I have used was both descriptive and spot on.” Watch his last appearance on MTP.
- The New York Times’ Helene Cooper has been covering the rollout of the Obama jobs bill all week, reporting that the President called for bipartisanship on Monday, but faced Republican opposition. But Obama has been pushing hard for the bill since then; he “turned up the rhetorical heat” later in the week in an event in North Carolina. Watch her last appearance on MTP.
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I prepared a comment an downloaded it. Brief version: Washington is foul. I see no relief for job seekers after the President's talk. No Senate or House members will step up and come to terms with a negotiated deal to get us back on our feet as a nation. We have lost the last of the classy and talented arbitrators who could make deals and cross the aisle. Obama is alone at the bridge and he is disconnected from any support system. It is mutiny all around. The Presidency is in disarray and has been for years.
Barbara Kemp - I agree 100%, and if you read any of the comments and listen to co-workers and friends there seems to be rampant polarization based on mis-information. In my quest to stay informed I find myself dwelling more on the hopelessness of the Presidency, the process and government in general. I truly fear for the future of our nation and people.
I disappointed that no one on political television (usually due to time constraints) is ever able make politicians explain in a well thought out way the tag lines they throw out playing off uncritical group think. For instance, Sen. McConnell repeated the narrative that Republicans have fostered that the initial stimulus bill was a complete waste. I wish we had a two-hour academic interview forcing him to explain what it did according to fact. Does he think the large tax cuts in it were a bad idea? Instead he and other get away with dismissing the whole bill with the mythical assumption that if they were in charge *Their* magic wand would have saved the country.
The other line I heard, and oft repeated on right-wing outlets, is that "If Warren Buffett thinks he should pay more taxes, he should send in a check!". It's a quaint thing to say but it lacks critical analysis. If we lived in a world where every person did the right thing it would be nice, but the reality is that people are greedy (for good or worse) and they don't, especially when it comes to paying taxes. By every set of statistics I've seen the wealthy have vastly and disproportionately enjoyed the fruit this country has to offer. The argument that they shouldn't have to contribute a relatively little amount to help the majority from falling into ruin is ridiculous and ultimately suicidal. Who is going to buy the products of their factories if no one has a job or money to spend on them?
As a quaint retort back at Sen. McConnell "Maybe the next time we budget for defense contracts in your state, we should ask YOU to send in a check!"