How will the economy force Pres. Obama to change '12 campaign strategy?
A volunteer receptionist answers a phone call at President Obama's re-election headquarters in Chicago. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The continuing struggles of the U.S. economy are becoming a big problem for President Obama and his campaign for re-election in 2012. Economic reports show an unwelcome slowdown in what had been a few months of encouraging job growth, as well as new lows for home prices.
The president's top economic adviser, Austan Goolsbee, is leaving, the latest in a string of top economic minds the president recruited after his election who have abandoned ship.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll out today says about six in 10 of those surveyed give the president poor marks on the economy and the deficit. Nearly half say they strongly disapprove of the way he's handling both issues. And the same poll found that if the election were held today President Obama would lose to Republican Mitt Romney.
Romney, who is far from an overwhelming favorite among members of his own party, has said jobs and the economy will be central issues in his campaign.
Democratic strategist James Carville - who first coined the phrase "It's the economy, stupid" back in 1992 - says if job creation stays down the 2012 race could be "very rough" for President Obama. He said the economy is so bad, there's heightened risk of civil unrest in this country.
For now, there's little the president can do short term other than try to say the right things on the campaign trail. Reducing the deficit and cutting spending are top priorities on Capitol Hill, but so far nothing has been done.
Rising gas prices and declining home prices are crimping consumer spending. So expect to hear the president highlight the modest gains in the economy since the worst days of 2008 and 2009. Strategists say he'll also make the case that things would be far worse if Republicans were in charge.
But if that's all he's got, it's not going to be enough.
Here’s my question to you: How will the economy force President Obama to change his campaign strategy for 2012?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should American wealth be redistributed by taxing the rich?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
More than a hundred conservatives in the House sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor Monday setting strict guidelines that need to be met in order to get their vote to support an increase to the debt ceiling. These lawmakers are concerned Boehner and Cantor will not push hard enough for spending cuts when they meet with Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/06/06/art.cantor.boehner.jpg caption="(L to R) House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)."]
Specifically, they're asking for discretionary and mandatory spending cuts that would cut the deficit in half next year. Good luck.
For all the tough talk coming from Republican lawmakers about cutting spending and reducing the deficit, they refuse to give in on one issue - raising taxes, mostly on the rich. Such a move would of course raise revenue at a time when we're facing a $14.3 trillion national debt, but it would also anger wealthy Republican donors. Can't have that.
According to a new Gallup Poll, Americans are split over whether to raise taxes for the rich.
Forty-seven percent of Americans believe the government should redistribute wealth in this country by raising taxes on the wealthiest citizens. Forty-nine percent disagree.
When you break it down by party affiliation, the percentage of Democrats who are for raising taxes on the wealthy is just about equal to the percentage of Republicans against raising taxes.
Seventy-one percent of Democrats support redistributing wealth while 26% are against it. Just 28% of Republicans support a plan to tax more heavily the richest Americans while 69% do not.
When it comes to independents though, it's split. About 43% support redistributing wealth while 53% do not.
Here’s my question to you: Should American wealth be redistributed by taxing the rich?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Is Sarah Palin's publicity stunt helping or hurting Republican chances in 2012?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Her "One Nation" tour may be taking a brief pit stop in Arizona, stop but the dust Sarah Palin has kicked up along the way has yet to settle.
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The former Alaskan governor started off a well publicized family bus tour in Washington on Memorial Day weekend on the back of a Harley Davidson. From there is was on to visit some national historic sites, pizza with Donald Trump, a testy game of cat and mouse with reporters, and upstaging fellow Republican Mitt Romney the day he announced that he's running for president.
Palin later said she did not mean to distract from Mitt Romney's presidential announcement by visiting New Hampshire on the same day. Sure. She said it was a coincidence she ended up in the first primary state on the same day. Sure.
And then there was her elementary American history mistake over the ride of Paul Revere. While visiting Boston, Palin insisted the essence of Revere's midnight ride was to warn the British soldiers they would have a fight on their hands if they tried to take arms away from Americans. Not exactly.
It's true we all make mistakes. Henry David Longfellow's famous poem about Paul Revere has some historical inaccuracies in it - but at least he got right which side Revere was warning.
Palin defended herself yesterday on Fox News Sunday saying "I know my American history," and gave a long-winded explanation of what she really meant. It's like every time Palin makes a mess, she runs to Fox News where they try to kick sand over it.
She may not know a lot about history, but what she does seem to know how to do is draw attention to herself. And that's not necessarily a good thing for the Republicans whether she decides to run for president or not.
Here’s my question to you: Is Sarah Palin's publicity stunt helping or hurting Republican chances in 2012?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Can Rep. Anthony Weiner survive Weinergate?
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) encounters a group of reporters as he leaves his office. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Watching Wolf' Blitzer's interview with Congressman Anthony Weiner yesterday was sort of like watching one of those Buddhist monks set himself on fire. You feel bad for the guy, but it's impossible not to watch it.
Weiner has spent a lot of time trying to talk himself out of a hole over the past few days, but the hole may be getting deeper.
The incident in question - a lewd photo sent from Weiner's Twitter account to a female college student that went out to 45,000 other people as well - was bad enough. But watching the way Weiner's been handling the media circus surrounding it is even worse. And it could kill his career.
Maybe he should take a lesson from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Yesterday we reported Christie flew a state helicopter to his son's baseball game. Bad move for a budget conscious guy many hope will run for president. But today he admitted he made a mistake and said he'll pay for the cost out of his own pocket - $2,500. Chances are he won't do that again and the story now will go away.
For Weiner, that's not happening.
Prior to what's now being called Weinergate, the congressman, an outspoken but articulate liberal, has been rumored to be considering a run for mayor of New York City in 2013. The events of the past week could endanger that.
Weiner represents a district in Queens and Brooklyn that traditionally votes Democratic. Last year, he faced his toughest battle for re-election in his 13-year congressional career, winning just 59 percent of the votes. In all previous races, he won more than 66 percent of the votes.
Of course, a run is still two years off, and a lot can happen in politics - and political scandals - in that time.
Here’s my question to you: Can Rep. Anthony Weiner survive Weinergate?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Do you believe another financial crisis is around the corner?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Housing prices falling back to their lowest level since 2002, before the Great Recession began, back-to-back discouraging jobs reports, a slowdown in consumer spending. Take your pick: There's not a lot of rosy news on the economy this week. So much for that whole recovery thing.
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Stocks plummeted yesterday on all this news. The Dow Jones Industrials were off more than 2 percent. And the Dow and S&P 500 were down again today.
The big employment report for the month of May comes out tomorrow. Economists are hoping to see 185,000 jobs added. If not, it could be another wild day for the markets.
Talk of a possible double-dip recession is now heating up among economists. And earlier this week, fund manager Mark Mobius told a Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo that another financial crisis is just around the corner because little has changed to regulate what largely caused the first collapse - the derivatives market. New rules to regulate derivatives are scheduled to roll out later this year and others are in the pipeline… but Wall Street-friendly lawmakers are putting up a fight.
This all comes at a time when Washington is trying to figure out how to cut spending in order to lower the deficit... all while playing chicken with the debt ceiling. Moody's Investor Service is threatening to slash the U.S. credit rating if lawmakers do not make significant progress on budget talks by July, out of fear the U.S. could default on its loans. It's going to be a long, hot summer.
Here’s my question to you: Do you believe another financial crisis is around the corner?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should federal employees earn more than the governors of the states where they work?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
More than 77,000 federal workers make more money each year than the governors of the states where they work. That's according to a new congressional research report. The figures are based on 2009 salaries, the most recent data available.
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It comes at a time when cutting budgets and the size of government are hot button issues.
Almost a quarter of those earning more than their governors were doctors, more than 18,000 according to the report. The second-highest percentage is air traffic controllers, about 5,000 out-earned their states' governors. There are also more than 4,000 attorneys on the list, 22 librarians and one interior designer.
Say what?
Governors' salaries differ from state to state. The lowest is Maine, $70,000 a year. The highest is California, where the governor makes more than $212,000 a year. Colorado had the largest number of workers making more than its governor, more than 10,000. Delaware had the fewest, 37.
A spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents more than 600,000 federal employees, discounted the report, telling the Washington Times that many of these employees work in higher paying medical fields. Others also say many of these workers have reached those salaries after many years on the job.
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why do politicians think denying an allegation or changing the subject means it will go away?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Politicians never learn. They think if they deny something or change the subject when asked about it, that's the end of it. It will just go away.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/06/01/art.anthony.weiner.jpg caption="Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)"]
Well, guess what? It never does. And watching them squirm as that truth dawns on them is priceless.
The latest example: New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, whose Twitter account sent out a lewd picture of a man in his underwear.
This episode was quickly dubbed "Weinergate."
You can't make this stuff up.
The Congressman, Weiner, is insisting his Twitter account was hacked and someone else sent the photo. That's the same excuse former Congressman Christopher Lee, the Republican from New York, tried in February when he was caught sending a suggestive picture of himself to a woman he was hoping to meet on Craig's List. He resigned.
Weinergate would have disappeared if the congressman had answered the question, "Did you send that photograph or not?" Instead Weiner called a CNN producer a "jackass" and carried on like some spoiled 9-year-old. It wasn't the CNN producer who came across as the jackass.
Dodging questions and denying allegations is nothing new. President Bill Clinton said "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Wrong answer. President Richard Nixon said, "I am not a crook." He was.
And look at the mess John Edwards is in... Facing a possible long prison stretch over allegations he stole campaign funds to support his mistress.
The list of these egotistical so-called public servants is much longer than we have time for here.
Here’s my question to you: Why do politicians think denying an allegation or changing the subject means it will go away?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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