Bipartisanship: Is it already dead?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
President Obama had hoped the political capital he won on the campaign trail would pay off in Washington and allow him to push through his emergency stimulus bill without too much hassle. But after less than a week in office he has run headlong into the partisan battles he promised to eliminate in the Nation's Capital.
Eric Holder is sworn in during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on January 15, 2009. Holder's nomination to be the next Attorney General has been a source of contention between the President and many Republicans.
The new President is facing sharp resistance to his $825-billion stimulus package that the House is expected to consider on Wednesday. Questions about how the money will be spent stand in the way. Not that surprising when you consider the mystery of the $750-billion Wall Street bailout President Bush signed off on last year. We still don't know where a lot of that money went.
President Obama is pulling out all the stops to get everyone on the same page. He's meeting with his economic advisers, talking with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and continues to tell the American people how bad things are and warn them to brace for things to get worse.
And it's not just the stimulus package the President is having problems with. Republicans are holding up the confirmation of his Attorney General, Eric Holder.
And they can't be thrilled that the new President is signing one executive order after another to undo the policies of his Republican predecessor.
These are all indications that this isn't going to be the smooth sailing President Obama had in mind.
Here’s my question to you: Is the spirit of bipartisanship already dead in Washington?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Pelosi says birth control will help the economy. Is she right?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The $825-billion stimulus package that President Obama wants on his desk by mid-February is supposed to start turning the economy around. The President talked about transparency and has even announced that a Web site will give an accounting so people can keep track of how the money is spent. He's also vowed that there will be no pork in the bill.
House Speaker Pelosi recently said that contraception would “reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”
Over the weekend lawmakers got on their soap boxes. Democrats were out peddling the plan and Republicans were pointing out the problems.
On ABC, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended hundreds of millions of dollars in the stimulus package earmarked for family planning.
She said family planning reduces costs and explained that the stimulus plan includes assistance to states and part of that includes children's health and education. That includes contraception, which she said will, "reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."
What exactly did she mean? Are the millions of dollars for birth control supposed to stop people from having babies? She's starting to sound like Chairman Mao.
When asked if she had any apologies for those remarks, Madam Speaker answered, "no apologies."
Here’s my question to you: Is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi right when she says adding birth control to the stimulus package will help the economy?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How secure is your job?
An unemployed Coloradoan signs up at a job fair in Denver, Colorado on January 22, 2009. Unemployment in the United States, now more than seven percent nationally, is at its highest level in many years. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
If you want proof this recession has legs, you need look no farther than a series of announcements this Monday morning that companies continue to slash jobs right and left.
It started with construction giant Caterpillar announcing plans to cut 20,000 jobs.
Home Depot said they're cutting 7,000 employees and will close their high-end EXPO stores.
Sprint-Nextel said they are cutting 8,000 jobs.
And there are reports that Starbucks is going to slash 1,000 jobs. That's in addition to previously announced cuts.
There was also the announcement that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is buying competitor Wyeth, a move that will cut more than 19,000 jobs.
And this afternoon GM announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs.
ING and Philips Electronics, both based in the Netherlands with employees in the U.S., plan to cut 7,000 and 6,000 jobs respectively. One estimate is that 56,000 jobs were cut today alone.
Last week it was Microsoft and before that Circuit City. These days just about everybody knows somebody who has lost a job.
The National Association for Business Economics, a trade group for private companies, says 39% of their companies plan to cut their payroll within 6 months.
Here’s my question to you: How secure do you feel about your job?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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