Obama: No prosecution for CIA operatives in interrogations

By Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ President Obama said Thursday that the United States will not prosecute CIA officials who participated in controversial terrorism interrogation techniques _ including waterboarding and slapping and sleep deprivation _ that were secretly authorized under President Bush and have since been rescinded.

"This is a time for reflection, not retribution," Obama said in a written statement issued as the Justice Department prepared to turn over by a court deadline Bush-era memos that authorized various legally questionable techniques.

"In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution," the president said.

The memos were issued between 2002 and 2005 by the Bush Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. The Obama administration was being compelled to release them to the American Civil Liberties Union under a federal court-imposed deadline in an open records lawsuit being brought by the group.

CIA director Leon Panetta told employees in a memo Thursday that despite Obama's assurances, "This is not the end of the road on these issues" to expect more pressure from the Congress, the public and the courts to release more information.

At the same time, he said, it was important to understand the "context" of the memos, coming soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

He said: "The fact remains that CIA's detention and interrogation effort was authorized and approved by our government. For that reason, as I have continued to make clear, I will strongly oppose any effort to investigate or punish those who followed the guidance of the Department of Justice."

Panetta also said the CIA would provide legal representation to any staff investigated for their actions.

The memos are being released late Thursday afternoon.

The administration was redacting at least some information, at the request of intelligence officials.

In his statement, the president said of intelligence operatives, "we must protect their identities as vigilantly as they protect our security, and we must provide them with the confidence that they can do their jobs."

Obama also said: "The exceptional circumstances surrounding these memos should not be viewed as an erosion of the strong legal basis for maintaining the classified nature of secret activities."

The four memos are said to detail the type of "enhanced" interrogation techniques that were condoned by the Justice Department for use by the CIA.

For years, the Bush administration has refused to release memos that provided the legal underpinning for harsh interrogations, eavesdropping and secret prisons, citing national security, attorney-client privilege and the need to protect the government's deliberative process.

Shortly after Obama took office, Attorney General Eric Holder pledged to release as many of the still-secret Office of Legal Counsel memos and opinions as possible while protecting national security information.

Critics of the prior administration see the release of the documents as necessary to determine whether former administration officials should be held accountable for legal opinions that justified various antiterrorism measures, including the use of waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning.

Two previous Justice Department memos in 2002 and 2003 had approved the use of waterboarding and other harsh methods so long as they did not cause pain similar in intensity to that caused by death or organ failure.

But those memos were widely condemned and later withdrawn because of questions about whether they were encouraging torture. The disclosure of them also forced President Bush to declare, "We do not torture," a phrase he would come to repeat often when defending the administration's anti-terrorism policies.

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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

Obama, allies aren't on same page as G20 opens

By Steven Thomma and Kevin G. Hall

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

LONDON _ With economic peril spreading around the globe, President Barack Obama and other world leaders will convene Wednesday in London, desperate to avoid the mistakes that plunged the planet into the Depression in the 1930s and seeking common approaches to jolt their economies back to life.

Obama landed in London on Tuesday evening, ready to plunge into meetings Wednesday and Thursday. Topping his agenda is affirming national government plans already under way to spend $2.5 trillion to stimulate economies and working out a new global framework to regulate financial markets. This could include extending the regulatory net over hedge funds and offshore tax havens, as well as identifying gaps in regulation between countries.

Another crucial goal: making sure that developed countries avoid protectionism, or shutting themselves off from international trade, a key mistake that helped worsen the worldwide depression more than seven decades ago.

Obama and European allies also seek to empower the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to boost economies great and small and to discourage the erection of trade barriers.

That may be difficult given growing political pressures in many nations. Thousands of protesters are expected to flood London's streets, underscoring how the loss of jobs and pensions in Europe magnifies social stresses and political tensions.

The American president is the fresh face among world leaders, many of whom already were in office when the global financial system went into cardiac arrest last fall. Starting with a dinner Wednesday evening, Obama and colleagues then will work through the day Thursday on what originally had been billed as rewriting the global rules for finance.

The meeting involves the so-called G20, a group of 19 countries with major economies plus the European Union. Together they represent 85 percent of the world's economy, from old European powers to emerging powerhouses such as China and Brazil. Others beyond the 19 are attending as well, including Spain and the Netherlands.

"The stakes for this summit are very high," Michael Froman, the White House's deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, said in a London briefing Monday. "They are magnified by the fact that much has happened since the last G20 summit in November."

The global financial crisis has deepened since then and countries now are focused on halting the bleeding and restoring growth.

Yet in the weeks leading up to this summit, trans-Atlantic tensions mounted. The Obama administration criticized European allies as not doing enough to stimulate their economies, and they retorted that the United States is moving too slowly to put new rules in place to rein in large financial institutions.

Both have backed off since, but the Obama team suggested that success will be measured in tone, not detail.

"What's important is that there is agreement to do whatever is necessary until growth is restored, there's agreement to take sustained effort until growth is restored and there's agreement to ask the IMF to monitor both what's necessary and what's being done by the G20, and to report back on a regular basis," Froman said. "Every country has adopted stimulus. They're in the process of implementing it."

France and Germany have warned against a summit that seeks a consensus so general that it lacks relevance.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

French newspapers reported this week that President Nicolas Sarkozy would insist on benchmarks for gauging progress on the imposition of new regulations over finance. He threatened in mid-March to walk out of the G20 summit if serious progress isn't being made.

In an interview with London's Financial Times published Friday, German leader Angela Merkel hadn't backed off from her emphasis on regulation instead of spending.

"The crisis did not take place because we were spending too little but because we were spending too much to create growth that was not sustainable. It isn't just that the banks took over too many risks. Governments allowed them to do so by neglecting to set the necessary (financial market) rules and, for instance in the U.S., by increasing the money supply too much," she said.

The United States and England, however, are unlikely to support hasty moves to new regulation.

"Self-interest wins in the end always, and the United States and the U.K. get more out of financial services than anyone else. We have the two world financial capitals. It's not in our interest to have other people write the regulations or have regulations that try to average across many nations," said Vincent Reinhart, a former top economist at the Federal Reserve.

Likewise, he cautioned, big nations such as China and Russia, and the smaller but important European powers, see it in their interest to impose new rules on London and New York.

"I don't see how you reconcile that difference in national interests," said Reinhart, who's a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research center. "I think it's going to be very hard for the U.S. to make this summit a success."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Obama did steal some of the European thunder last week, outlining his own vision for a tougher new regulatory environment that included new oversight for hedge funds, which control vast pools of global capital. It included a call for new rules that would force banks to keep more cash on hand and prevent them from investing so heavily with borrowed money. That's amplified the global financial crisis.

Even if not resolved in London, pressure for new global rules will remain.

"We're still trying to fragment regulation in a global financial market, and we're discovering it doesn't work," said David Wyss, the chief economist for rating agency Standard & Poor's in New York. He expects little more than a framework to be accomplished this week. "I think there will be some attempt to smooth the feathers."

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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

_____

Bankruptcy advocates say GM's best bet may be 'prepack'

By Michael Oneal

Chicago Tribune

(MCT)

CHICAGO _ Faced with an auto industry that is bleeding cash and seemingly unable to fix itself, President Barack Obama began laying the groundwork Monday for a possible government-sponsored Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

After threatening to cut off government aid to both companies unless they meet strict new deadlines for forging restructuring plans acceptable to the president's auto task force, Obama said that bankruptcy filings could represent part of the solution to either company's woes.

The move to put a Chapter 11 filing squarely on the table is an abrupt repudiation of the conventional wisdom in the auto industry that bankruptcy would be disastrous for car sales and the general economy. But with the automakers burning through billions while negotiations with creditors, unions and other stakeholders drag on, Obama may be ready to take that risk, experts said.

"If anybody was under the illusion that the Obama administration was going to sink billions of dollars into this industry until the end of time, they were disabused of that notion" on Monday, said Douglas Baird, a bankruptcy expert at the University of Chicago Law School.

Several observers said the administration's willingness to consider bankruptcy may have both practical and tactical elements. On the practical side, few restructuring experts have ever felt GM or Chrysler could work out their myriad problems without the aid of a bankruptcy judge. Obama's auto task force may be coming to this view.

Tactically, the task force may be sending a signal to creditors, unions and company managements that the government's patience and checkbook are not unlimited and that if they can't stomach the cuts needed to make GM and Chrysler viable, a court will have to make the cuts for them.

On Sunday, the Obama administration eliminated one longtime opponent of a bankruptcy filing when it asked GM Chairman Rick Wagoner to resign.

Wagoner and other auto industry officials had warned since the car companies began running out of cash late last year that a bankruptcy filing by any of the Big Three would be disastrous for the entire industry. They said it would crush sales by scaring away consumers worried about buying such a big-ticket item from an unreliable company. And, because the industry is tightly intertwined, they said it would set off ripple effects that would threaten dealers, suppliers and other car companies responsible for a large swath of the U.S. economy.

"The people who say bankruptcy is a good idea don't understand the complexity of the industry," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. "It's mostly bankruptcy lawyers who are saying that because they will feast on it."

Those advocating a bankruptcy process argue that a so-called "prepackaged" Chapter 11 filing with financing supplied by the government may be the best option for a company like GM. In a "prepack," the various stakeholders agree to a solution in advance and use the court to enforce it in a relatively quick, in-and-out process.

That can solve a lot of problems, experts said.

GM's debt, for instance, is currently trading at around 15 cents on the dollar, but bondholders have so far signaled support only for a deal worth a little more than 30 cents. Getting all the bondholders _ a group numbering in the thousands _ to agree to cuts so drastic might be impossible out of bankruptcy court, Baird said. But under the rules of a pre-arranged bankruptcy, half of the bondholders by number, or two-thirds by dollar amount, can cut a deal and drag the other, more recalcitrant investors along with them, making for a smoother process.

During his speech Monday, Obama seemed to embrace the idea of a prepackaged filing while taking pains to address concerns about spooking consumers. A Chapter 11 filing, he explained, would not mean the failure and unwinding of either GM or Chrysler.

"What I'm talking about," he said, "is using our existing legal structure as a tool that, with the backing of the U.S. government, can make it easier for General Motors and Chrysler to quickly clear away old debts that are weighing them down so that they can get back on their feet."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Obama also introduced specific measures to stimulate sales and make jittery car buyers more comfortable about buying from a manufacturer in financial trouble.

First, he said the government would guarantee all auto warranties so buyers don't have to worry about being stuck with a damaged car if its manufacturer is incapacitated. Then he announced one initiative to allow car buyers to write off sales and excise tax on new cars and another to provide incentives for replacing older, less fuel-efficient cars with new ones.

One thing Obama made clear is that Chrysler and GM are very different.

Chrysler was given 30 days to complete a global partnership agreement with Italy's Fiat.

General Motors, on the other hand, will have 60 days to forge a compromise between management, the United Auto Workers and the company debt-holders. In addition to the debt restructuring, the UAW will likely have to agree to more wage cuts and a controversial debt-for-equity swap to fund its retiree health trust. And management will have to show how its restructuring adds up to viability.

Fritz Henderson, GM's new interim CEO and a longtime Wagoner lieutenant, acknowledged to reporters after Obama's speech that the risk has increased that the company will have to reorganize through bankruptcy, because of greater demands from the Obama administration to get debt off its balance sheet.

In a statement, the company said: "Our strong preference is to complete this restructuring out of court. However, GM will take whatever steps are necessary to successfully restructure the company, which could include a court-supervised process."

___

© 2009, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

House GOP offers alternative budget, with details to come

By David Lightman

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ Republicans in the House of Representatives answered President Barack Obama's challenge for a GOP alternative budget on Thursday by producing their own plan _ but the document contained virtually no specifics on spending, taxes or deficit reduction.

Instead, the glossy 18-page book, "The Republican Road to Recovery," was largely a harangue against Democratic policies and a series of statements of long-held Republican principles. House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio promised details next week.

Obama at his Tuesday news conference had criticized Republicans, saying, "We haven't seen an alternative budget out of them."

"Here it is, Mr. President," Boehner declared on Thursday.

Asked if the Republican plan would cut the deficit in half in five years, as Obama proposes, Boehner said, "It'll be better."

The House and Senate expect to vote next week on fiscal 2010 budgets, and separate votes are expected on Republican alternatives.

Since Democrats have comfortable majorities in both houses of Congress, and such budget debates are tightly controlled, the bills they have written are expected to pass easily.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the top Republican on the House Budget Committee, set the tone for the Republican effort, calling the Democratic plan "so reckless, so irresponsible ... a gusher of new spending followed by a gusher of new borrowing we cannot sustain."

Democrats would spend about $3.55 trillion next year. Obama wanted a 10.1 percent boost in nondefense discretionary spending, which includes most domestic programs. The House Democrats' version would pare that to 9.5 percent, while the Senate's would cut it to 7 percent.

Most of Obama's key initiatives, such as health care, climate change and his "making work pay" tax credit, will be considered later this year. The House and Senate Democratic budgets require that their costs be covered by tax increases or offsetting cuts in spending elsewhere.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

Democrats scoffed at the GOP plan.

"It's like being in the era of the Bush administration all over again," said Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., the House Budget Committee chairman.

The GOP plan methodically takes the Democratic bill apart. On health care, it complains that "Democrats propose to finance nationalized health care," and says a better solution would be allowing people to shop across state lines for insurance policies.

On spending, the Republican plan lists specific objections to Democrats' plans, but proposes only that the GOP would "cut overall nondefense spending by reforming or eliminating a host of wasteful programs deemed ineffective by various government entities."

Taxes would be lower, the Republicans promise, in a "simple and fair tax code" with a 10 percent tax rate for incomes up to $100,000 and 25 percent thereafter, as well as "a generous standard deduction and personal exemption."

However, Republicans also would "allow any individual or family satisfied with their current tax structure" to pay those rates, though it would drop the two lowest brackets by 5 percent. Rates currently range from 10 percent to 35 percent.

On energy, the Republican plan would open the Arctic Coastal Plain to energy exploration, while making it easier to build new nuclear reactors.

And the party says it would help ease financial industry turmoil by discouraging bailouts and creating a climate of "certainty and economic growth."

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ON THE WEB

Republican road to recovery plan": http://www.gop.gov/solutions/budget/road-to-recovery-final

Internal Revenue Service description of 2009 tax brackets: http://tinyurl.com/6xpayy

Congressional Budget Office budget projections: http://tinyurl.com/ddjb9p

President Obama's 2010 budget outline: http://tinyurl.com/bcbxk6

Concord Coalition budget analysis: http://tinyurl.com/cwjb2e

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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

Huge public lands bill gets final congressional approval

Map of the U.S. locating lands to be protected as wilderness; the House has passed and sent to President Barack Obama a long-delayed bill to set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as protected wilderness. MCT 2009

By Michael Doyle

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ The House of Representatives on Wednesday gave long-awaited final approval to a massive public lands package designed to protect wilderness, restore rivers and expand national parks.

Years of debate and negotiations ended anticlimactically, as the 1,218-page bill strolled to victory on a 285-140 margin. Approved earlier by the Senate, the legislation now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature.

"It will restore balance to the management of our public lands ... after nearly a decade in which responsible land stewardship was abandoned," said Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Tactically constructed, with provisions targeting a majority of states, the bill drew 38 Republicans to join 247 Democrats. Even so, conservative GOP critics lambasted the bill as a land grab put together with what one Republican lawmaker termed "every legislative trick in (the Democratic) playbook."

House Democratic leaders brought the measure to the floor in a way that blocked potential amendments.

"The passage of this bill is another disappointing display of heavy-handed Democratic tactics that rely on secret, backroom bill-writings that are then jammed through without any opportunity for alternatives," complained Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington, the senior Republican on the House resources panel.

Dubbed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, the measure pulled together more than 150 separate public lands, parks and water bills into one package. Among other things, the legislation designates 2 million acres of additional wilderness in nine states and 1,000 miles of new wild and scenic rivers. It creates three new national park units, one new national monument and 10 new national heritage areas.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

Provisions in the bill range from honoring President Bill Clinton's birthplace in Arkansas to creating a national institute for the study of caves. It designates a Wyoming river as wild and scenic, creates a geologic trail that tracks cataclysmic ice age floods and requires the government to research the problem of increasingly acidic oceans.

"Altogether, it is one of the most sweeping conservation laws that Congress has passed in many, many years," declared Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

The bill will be expensive. It authorizes projects expected to cost more than $5.5 billion over five years if Congress provides the money, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It also adds an additional $900 million in spending after 2013, the nonpartisan budget office estimates.

Hastings warned the bill would restrict potential development of energy resources on public lands, while other lawmakers focused on the addition of new lands to the national wilderness roll.

"The federal government already owns 30 percent of the total land area of the United States," said Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif. "I don't think we need any more."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, called the bill's passage "a day of celebration for all who treasure and enjoy our natural and cultural heritage," and numerous environmental groups had been lobbying hard for its passage. In many cases, the public lands package collected provisions that had lingered without action during the years that Republicans had controlled Congress.

One provision, for instance, names a new wilderness in California's Sierra Nevada mountains after former California Rep. John Krebs. The measure creating the John Krebs Wilderness was first introduced in 2002.

The bill's occasionally rocky road to passage included a controversy over allowing guns in national parks and a concern that some amendments might expose potentially vulnerable lawmakers to difficult votes.

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(Les Blumenthal and Erika Bolstad contributed to this report.)

___

© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

_____

GRAPHIC (from MCT Graphics, 202-383-6064): 20090325 LANDS map

Lawmakers poised to make cuts to Obama's budget

By David Lightman

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ Congress will begin rewriting President Barack Obama's $3.55 trillion fiscal 2010 budget Wednesday, and key lawmakers are poised to change some of his most ambitious plans significantly.

"There will be change, there's no question," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a Senate Appropriations Committee member.

The House of Representatives and Senate budget committees hope to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the president's outline.

Obama originally proposed a 10.1 percent increase in key nondefense domestic spending last month, according to Senate Budget Committee estimates, and Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., wants to hold the increase to about 7 percent. Conrad also wants to eliminate a $250 billion reserve that Obama wants for future bailouts of troubled companies.

The committees are unlikely to back resorting to a controversial legislative tactic that would make it easier to win Senate approval of carbon emission curbs, however.

The president, who plans to meet Wednesday at the Capitol with Senate Democrats, is contending that he will have succeeded if the final budget achieves four general goals: making a "down payment" on a health care overhaul; creating a "path to energy independence"; overhauling education; and cutting the "inherited" deficit in half by 2013.

Few lawmakers from either party would disagree with those principles, but they're sharply divided over how to attain them _ and alarmed by new deficit projections.

Obama's budget estimated that the 2010 deficit would reach $1.17 trillion, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office last week projected the figure at $1.4 trillion. The CBO also issued new, dire warnings about the future. By 2019, it said, debt held by the public would double to 82 percent of the gross domestic product if the president's budget becomes law.

The new figures have made Democratic budget leaders in Congress more aggressive about cutting Obama's budget. Conrad will offer a plan Wednesday to cut the deficit to $508 billion by fiscal year 2014.

Among the changes that are being seriously discussed:

_The non-filibuster rule. The president's budget team has considered using the budget "reconciliation" process to bring up complex changes in health care and carbon emissions "cap-and-trade" measures. That tactic permits the Senate to enact budget-related bills with only a simple majority of the 100-member body.

Usually Senate rules permit a minority to hold up legislation until 60 members vote to move to a final vote. Democrats control 58 Senate seats, so they could ram big programs through under "reconciliation." Republicans object, however, and even some Democrats remember that when they were in the minority, they valued minority-protection rules.

The House Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 51 party moderates, has made it clear that it doesn't want the reconciliation process used to change policy. Also, senators from industrial states, worried about the impact of a cap-and-trade system to limit emissions from the auto industry, are voicing concern.

Still, House Democratic leaders are balking at abandoning the tactic for winning an overhaul of health care.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

Using the tactic could wound already-bruised relations with Republicans. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who cast a crucial vote for last month's economic stimulus package, said she flatly opposed using the tactic for such big issues.

"Reconciliation should not be used to implement a major policy change," she said. "It's unfair to those who hold minority views."

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

_The financial rescue plan. Obama's budget lists a $250 billion "placeholder" aimed at giving more help to ailing industries, but Congress seems in no mood to provide it. Since the first major bailouts last fall, lawmakers have heard repeatedly from angry constituents who oppose government aid to shaky companies.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

"I don't think it should stay in. I don't think there's enough support for any additional rescue plans at this point," said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., a key moderate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada agreed. "I have no problem with that. ... If it's an emergency we can do it."

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

_Nondefense discretionary spending. The Senate Budget Committee says the president wants a 10.1 percent increase in domestic discretionary spending, which includes most education, labor, transportation and other popular programs.

The Blue Dogs want spending on these programs held to the rate of inflation, which is nearly zero, and Senate moderates also are concerned about runaway spending. Conrad is expected to recommend a 7 percent spending increase, but that's going to be a hard line to hold in the House, where liberals have more clout.

This looms as one of the biggest budget battles. A coalition of liberal groups began mobilizing Tuesday against major cuts from Obama's wish list, and House leaders, many of them sympathetic to liberal causes, are said to be balking at cuts too.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

_Pell grants. Currently, Congress and the president decide each year how much money this program to aid lower-income students should receive. Obama wants to make it an "entitlement," guaranteeing that it would get a certain level of funding each year.

He's proposed a maximum award of $5,550 for the 2010-11 school year, a sum that would be indexed to the rate of inflation plus 1 percent annually after that. Conrad would preserve Obama's increases, but wouldn't make the grants a full entitlement program, meaning that Congress would have more discretion to make changes each year.

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the top House Budget Committee Republican, said that while he backed Pell grants, the president's plan would make it "another autopilot entitlement, immune from congressional oversight at precisely the time when we should be reforming" entitlements.

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ON THE WEB

President Obama's 2010 budget outline: http://tinyurl.com/bcbxk6

Concord Coalition's budget analysis: http://tinyurl.com/cwjb2e

White House plan on Pell Grants, other education revisions: http://tinyurl.com/a9tvlo

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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

Obama's Special Olympics joke creates a stir around the nation

By Rob Hotakainen

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ It seemed like a harmless remark.

In an appearance Thursday night on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," President Barack Obama made a joke about his lackluster bowling skills by saying: "It was like Special Olympics or something."

But the comment caused an immediate stir in Washington and around the nation.

Appearing at the White House after meeting with Obama to discuss roads and bridges, California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he knew Obama meant nothing by it.

"I know where his heart is at," said Schwarzenegger, who considers the Special Olympics his favorite charity, appearing at major competitions and raising money around the world. "He loves Special Olympics, and he will do everything he can to help Special Olympics. And every one of us sometimes makes a mistake. Something comes out of your mouth and you say, 'Oops, I wish I wouldn't have said that.' I've had many of those."

Earlier in the day, California first lady Maria Shriver _ whose mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the Special Olympics movement in 1968 _ said that while she was confident Obama didn't intend to offend anyone, the remark "demonstrates the need to continue to educate the non-disabled community on the issues that confront those with a developmental disability."

Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin said she was "shocked to learn" about Obama's comment.

"This was a degrading remark about our world's most precious and unique people, coming from the most powerful position in the world," said Palin, whose son, Trig, was born with Down syndrome last year. "These athletes overcome more challenges, discrimination and adversity than most of us ever will.''

"By the way, these athletes can outperform many of us and we should be proud of them," said Palin, who appeared in a video promoting this year's winter Special Olympics games in Boise, Idaho. "I hope President Obama's comments do not reflect how he truly feels about the special needs community."

The White House sought to explain Obama's comment by calling it "an offhand remark."

"The president made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics," said White House spokesman Bill Burton. "He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world."

Obama issued his apology to Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver, the brother of Maria Shriver. Timothy Shriver said Obama "was sincere and heartfelt" in his apology, but added, "Words hurt and words matter."

Shriver, noting that Special Olympics operates more than 30,000 events a year in more than 180 countries, said Obama's comments provided "a teachable moment for our country."

In a statement, Maria Shriver said her mother had dedicated her life "to fighting stereotypes and ridicule for this community, and there is still much work to be done."

"The president's apology for his comments and his commitment to bringing the Special Olympics to the White House are important first steps in shedding light on this important issue," she said. "Oftentimes we don't realize that when we laugh at comments like this it hurts millions of people throughout the world. People with special needs are great athletes and productive citizens, and I look forward to working with the president to knock down myths and stereotypes about this community."

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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

Obama gives Treasury secretary vote of confidence during '60 Minutes' interview

By Mark Silva

Tribune Washington Bureau

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ The besieged secretary of the Treasury gets a strong vote of confidence from President Barack Obama in a TV interview to be broadcast Sunday.

In a 90-minute session with "60 Minutes" interviewer Steve Kroft, Obama tells Kroft that if Timothy Geithner were to tender his resignation, he would tell him, "Sorry, buddy, you've still got the job."

The president stressed that neither he nor Geithner has mentioned resignation. But Obama said that criticism is natural, in light of the circumstances.

"It's going to take a little bit more time than we would like to make sure that we get this plan just right," Obama said. "Of course, then we'd still be subject to criticism _ 'What's taken so long? You've been in office a whole 40 days and you haven't solved the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression.' "

The president also discussed the proposed bonus tax for companies that have collected federal bailout money, health care, assistance for automakers, and the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Addressing national security, Obama had an answer for Vice President Dick Cheney's recent contention that the new president has put the nation at greater risk with his plans to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and prohibit torture of prisoners.

"How many terrorists have actually been brought to justice under the philosophy that is being promoted by Vice President Cheney?" Obama said. "It hasn't made us safer. What it has been is a great advertisement for anti-American sentiment."

Asked about released prisoners who have returned to terrorist groups, Obama said: "There is no doubt that we have not done a particularly effective job in sorting through who are truly dangerous individuals ... to make sure (they) are not a threat to us."

But the president said the Bush administration's policy on detainees at Guantanamo _ including long incarcerations without trial _ is "unsustainable."

Excerpts from the interview, taped Friday, will air on "60 Minutes" Sunday at 7 p.m. EDT.

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© 2009, Tribune Co.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Palin criticizes Obama for Special Olympics quip

By Erika Bolstad

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Friday criticized President Barack Obama's gaffe about the Special Olympics, calling his off-handed remark on the Tonight Show "degrading," especially since it was "coming from the most powerful position in the world."

"These athletes overcome more challenges, discrimination and adversity than most of us ever will," Palin said in a statement released Friday. "By the way, these athletes can outperform many of us and we should be proud of them. I hope President Obama's comments do not reflect how he truly feels about the special needs community."

Obama apologized for his remark shortly after his Thursday night appearance on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno. His gaffe came toward the end of the interview, when the Tonight Show host ribbed Obama about his less-than-stellar bowling skills, which were derided on the campaign trail. Obama joked he had been practicing and recently bowled a 129. Leno offered tongue-in-cheek praise, saying "that's very good, Mr. President."

"It's like _ it was like Special Olympics, or something," Obama responded.

Palin, whose son, Trig, was born with Down syndrome last year, appeared in a video promoting this year's winter Special Olympics games in Boise, Idaho. In it, she held Trig and talked about how important participating in the Special Olympics will be to her son's future happiness, especially in a sports-loving family.

"Thanks to Special Olympics, we know for certain that Trig is going to have every opportunity to enjoy sports and competition that all of our other children have," Palin said in the video. She riffed on her infamous hockey-mom-and-lipstick line from when she was introduced last summer to the nation as Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate.

"You know what the difference is between a hockey mom and a Special Olympics hockey mom?" Palin said. "Nothing."

The president's hasty apology came shortly after the Tonight Show was taped in California. White House spokesman Bill Burton released a statement while the president was flying back to Washington D.C. on Air Force One.

"The President made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics," Burton said. "He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world."

En route to Washington, the president also called and offered an apology to the chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, whose mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968. Shriver told "Good Morning America" that there's a Special Olympics athlete from Detroit who has bowled three perfect games and would be thrilled to offer the president some tips.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also weighed in. His wife, Maria Shriver, is Tim Shriver's brother; both Schwarzenegger and his wife have served as Special Olympics ambassadors.

"I know where his heart is at," Schwarzenegger said of the president, outside the White House Friday afternoon. "He loves Special Olympics, and he will do everything he can to help Special Olympics. And every one of us sometimes makes a mistake. Something comes out of your mouth and you say 'Oops, I wish I wouldn't have said that.' I've had many of those."

Maria Shriver was a little more critical: "Oftentimes we don't realize that when we laugh at comments like this it hurts millions of people throughout the world," she said. "People with special needs are great athletes and productive citizens, and I look forward to working with the president to knock down myths and stereotypes about this community."

Friday afternoon, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs repeated the president's apology during his daily briefing.

"I know that the president believes that the Special Olympics are a triumph of the human spirit, and I think he understands that they deserve a lot better than _ than the thoughtless joke that he made last night, and he apologizes for that," Gibbs said.

___

© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

Obama shares presidential details with 'Tonight Show' viewers

By Peter Nicholas

Chicago Tribune

(MCT)

LOS ANGELES _ Barack Obama bantered casually with Jay Leno during a taping of the "Tonight Show," expressing occasional frustration with life inside the presidential bubble, laying out his position on the bonuses paid to AIG employees, and giving his pick for the NCAA basketball tournament.

Obama appeared on the show to reach a different kind of audience than he normally commands, according to the White House. He mixed serious policy discussion with tantalizing details about his life as the leader of the free world.

Wearing a dark suit, legs crossed comfortably, Obama said he is getting a level of security that is often tough to fathom.

When he arrived at the Orange County Fairgrounds on Wednesday, he said he wanted to walk to the site of his town hall appearance. Secret Service told him no.

"They said, 'It's 750 yards,'" the president recalled. Obama replied that it would be only a five-minute walk. "Yes, sir. Sorry," he said he was told.

"Now, they let me walk on the way back, but the doctor is behind me with a defibrillator." Obama said.

"Michelle jokes about how in the motorcade we have the ambulance and the caboose and the dog sled. ... The submarine. A whole bunch of stuff going on."

Obama said he has picked the University of North Carolina to win the NCAA men's basketball tournament. An avid basketball fan and recreational player, the president said he plans to have rolling basketball hoops wheeled into the White House tennis courts so that he and friends can play.

Leno asked if his friends occasionally let him win. The president mugged for the camera.

"I don't see why they would throw the game except for all those Secret Service guys with guns around them."

More seriously, he said; "I don't think I get the hard fouls that I used to."

Still, Obama said he hasn't given up on bowling, and has made use of the White House lane. He has notched a score of 129.

"I've been practicing," he said.

A constant source of speculation has been the breed of dog the Obama family will choose. But Obama quipped that his promise to get a dog might have been an empty one: "Listen, this is Washington. That was a campaign promise."

He smiled broadly and said that the family will get the dog after he returns from a trip to Europe early next month.

Leno asked what kind it would be. A "Portuguese Waterhead?"

Obama: "It's not that. It's not a 'Waterhead.' Sounds like a scary dog _ dripping around the house."

Leno pressed him on the bonuses going to AIG executives. The talk show host said the government shouldn't worry about the prospect that disgruntled AIG employees might sue if the bonuses weren't paid.

The U.S. could simply say, "We're broke; sue us," Leno said.

Obama said the public's anger over the bonuses was understandable. But he was non-committal about a bill moving through Congress that would tax the bonuses at 90 percent.

"We're going to do everything we can to see if we can get the bonuses back," the president said. "The most important thing is to put in ... financial regulatory mechanisms to prevent companies like AIG holding the rest of us hostage."

___

© 2009, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Obama decries earmarks, signs bill with 9,000 of them

By Steven Thomma and David Lightman

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ As a candidate, Barack Obama once said that a president has to be able to do more than one thing at a time. Wednesday he proved it, though not in the way he had in mind.

He criticized pork barrel spending in the form of "earmarks," urging changes in the way that Congress adopts the spending proposals. Then he signed a spending bill that contains nearly 9,000 of them, some that members of his own staff shoved in last year when they were still members of Congress.

"Let there be no doubt, this piece of legislation must mark an end to the old way of doing business, and the beginning of a new era of responsibility and accountability," Obama said.

He said, however, that it was crucial for him to sign the $410 billion bill as soon as it arrived at the White House from Congress because it's needed to finance much of the government for the rest of this fiscal year. It was largely written last year but was held back while Republican George W. Bush was president because he opposed it.

"I am signing an imperfect ... bill," Obama said, "because it's necessary for the ongoing functions of government, and we have a lot more work to do. We can't have Congress bogged down at this critical juncture in our economic recovery."

Obama proposed changing the way special projects are financed, including competitive bidding for spending that goes to for-profit businesses. Aides also said the White House Office of Management and Budget would review the spending bill for examples of wasteful spending. The president then could send those back to Congress as proposed cuts, called rescissions, for an up-or-down vote.

Although Obama insisted that the recently enacted $787 billion plan to stimulate the economy be free of any earmarks _ spending on special projects usually in senators' home states or representatives' districts _ he made no such demand of this spending bill.

"The president could have done better. He couldn't have eliminated the earmarks in this bill, but he could have at least cut them back significantly," said Steve Ellis, the vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group. "We appreciate how he kept them out of the stimulus, but we think he's only batting .500."

"The American people know actions speak louder than words," said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, his party's leader in the House of Representatives. "The president's new promises on earmark reform would carry greater weight if they had been accompanied by a veto keeping his earlier promises on earmark reform."

The bill contains 8,816 earmarks worth $7.6 billion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Notable among them are $155.9 million worth of projects that six members of the Obama administration who were members of Congress last year, when the bill was originally written, inserted into the bill.

Top among them was Vice President Joe Biden. As a senator from Delaware, Biden added 56 earmarks that cost a total of $52.1 million, including $13.7 million for the Intracoastal Waterway from the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay and $190,000 to help build a children's museum in Wilmington.

Others:

_White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who as a House member from Illinois added 16 earmarks worth about $8.3 million, including money for a Chicago planetarium and suburban children's museum.

_Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, formerly a Democratic senator from Colorado, $44.6 million.

_Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, formerly a Republican congressman from Illinois, $26.5 million.

_Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, formerly a Democratic House member from California, $15.5 million.

_Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, formerly a Democratic senator from New York, $6.7 million.

The White House has pledged to send legislation to Congress seeking the rescission of all earmarks sponsored by current members of the Obama administration.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Geographically, Alaska topped the list, with 100 earmarks valued at $143 million, or $209.71 per capita. Next was North Dakota, with $110 million or $172 per capita.

The data show that it pays to be a top Appropriations Committee official. Hawaii, the home state of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, came in third, at $165 million, or $128.12 per capita. Fourth was Mississippi, represented by top Republican Appropriations member Thad Cochran, with $324 million in earmarks, or $110.59 per capita.

Last on the list: Arizona, the home state of Sen. John McCain, with $54 million, or $8.41 per capita. McCain railed against the practice throughout the weeklong Senate debate, just as he did in last year's presidential campaign, but his effort to effectively erase earmarks from the bill failed by a big margin Monday night.


___

© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

_____

PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): OBAMA

Obama makes case for taking time to get economy out of deep hole

By Kevin Diaz

Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ President Obama, in his 51st day on the job, acknowledged that he has yet to reassure a nervous public about his game plan for stabilizing the financial system that has pulled the rug out from under the economy."We can always do a better job," he said Wednesday during a roundtable discussion with 15 regional newspapers, including the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.

"I recognize the degree of concern that people have. We've been in office all of seven weeks so far. This is a crisis that was eight years in the making, maybe longer, in certain aspects. The buck stops with me and we're responsible, but it's going to take some time."

The meeting was Obama's second with regional reporters who cover Washington, part of an aggressive media strategy that has seen the new president reach out to bloggers and columnists across the political spectrum.

"This is my monthly occasion to break out of the Washington bubble," Obama said in the West Wing's Roosevelt Room. "I enjoy the keen insights of people outside of Washington."

The president walked into the room with a casual "Hey, how you guys doing?" He spent the next hour holding forth on topics ranging from Mexican border violence to 57 extra police officers in Minneapolis, citing the latter as evidence of the benefits of his recently passed $787 billion economic stimulus package.

"Obviously, our overarching focus right now is the economy," Obama said. "I'm very mindful of the hardships that are taking place all throughout the country."

Speaking slowly and deliberately, like the college professor he was, Obama made clear that his administration is in its infancy and that he still has the public on his side.

"The truth of the matter is the American people I think understand that it's going to take some time," he said. "If you look at the public polling, they recognize that it's going to take a while to dig ourselves out of the hole."

Obama noted that it's been only two weeks since he laid out his plans in a joint session of Congress. "The reviews were pretty good," he said.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

He noted that one aspect of the stimulus package _ extra money to preserve police officer jobs _ was highlighted by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a co-chairman of Obama's presidential campaign in Minnesota. "People are getting the message that slowly, surely, we are making progress on these fronts," Obama said.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

As for the unanimous opposition to his stimulus plan from House Republicans, including the three from Minnesota, Obama said "Saying 'no' is easy. ... I'm not impressed by just being able to say no."

For early signs of hope, Obama pointed to his new housing plan to provide relief to homeowners facing foreclosure. "You're already starting to see an uptick in refinancings that are providing families with relief," he said. "And in certain pockets of the country, you're starting to see housing prices stabilize after a long drop."

The president acknowledged, however, that there's "significant uncertainty" in the markets about the banking sector, which has been decimated by bad loans and mortgages. "That's obviously a particular concern to Wall Street," he said.

One problem is that the administration is still in the process of "stress-testing" or evaluating the financial strength of banks. "What we don't want to do is to prejudge those tests, or make a lot of statements that cause a lot of nervousness around banks that are already having difficulties," Obama said. "On that particular issue we've got to explain to people _ and as I said, we can always do better _ why it is so important to get lending going again, to get credit flowing to businesses and consumers.

"I'll be making statements about this tomorrow and the next day and in my radio addresses next week. And the main message I'm going to be delivering is that it's going to take some time to get out of this deep hole we're in. But we're going to get out."

By the time Obama took his last question, his water glass was still more than half full.

___

© 2009, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Visit the Star Tribune Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.startribune.com

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Obama: No U.S. troops to Mexico border

By Todd J. Gillman

The Dallas Morning News

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama is keeping close watch on the violence from Mexico's drug war, but he said Wednesday so far it hasn't spilled into this country enough to justify sending troops to the border.

"We've got a very big border with Mexico," he said. "I'm not interested in militarizing the border."

Last month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry visited El Paso, Texas _ whose neighbor, Ciudad Juarez, has taken the brunt of drug violence that has claimed more than 7,000 lives in Mexico in 14 months _ and called on Washington to send a thousand troops or border agents.

"We're going to examine whether and if National Guard deployments would make sense and under what circumstances they would make sense," Obama told The Dallas Morning News in an hour-long talk with 14 regional newspapers. "I don't have a particular tipping point in mind."

Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared a war on drug cartels nearly two years ago, setting off waves of violence as rival gangs fight for turf and resist the government crackdown. Obama emphasized he will continue working closely with Mexico and said within "a few months" he will offer a comprehensive policy to curtail U.S. demand for drugs and curb the southbound flow of cash and guns that give the cartels "extraordinary power."

"It's really a two-way situation," he said, promising a combination of border security, law enforcement, prevention and treatment.

"We're fighting with one hand tied behind our back because our effort to lower demand is grossly underfunded," Obama said. "The average person who's seeking serious substance abuse treatment in a big city like Dallas or Chicago typically has a three-, four- or six-month waiting list to get enrolled."

Obama has said little until now about the horrific violence in Mexico, which has included beheadings, assassinations of top anti-drug officials and police, running gun battles in border cities and the resignations of law enforcement officials who flee into the U.S. for safety.

Obama lauded Calderon for "taking some extraordinary risks under extraordinary pressure to deal with the drug cartels."

In 2007, then-President George W. Bush hammered out a deal with Calderon, called the Merida Initiative, to provide equipment and training to help Mexico take on the traffickers and weed out corruption.

Obama noted recent high-level contacts between U.S. and Mexican officials as a sign of the ongoing partnership.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Last Friday, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with counterparts in Mexico and offered more intelligence and surveillance, as well as training based on lessons learned against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder have already met with top Mexican officials, too.

On Wednesday, Obama named a national drug czar, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. Bush had given the post Cabinet rank. Obama removed that designation but said that's not a reflection on how seriously he takes the effort to curtail drug use.

"We do have to treat this as a public health problem, and we do have to have significant law enforcement,' he said. "If we can reduce demand, obviously that allows us to focus more effectively where interdiction is needed."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

As a candidate, Obama called the "war on drugs ... an utter failure." He also said he was open to legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

Asked Wednesday if he believes this country is still engaged in a war on drugs, he avoided the phrase but promised not to weaken drug laws and to pursue border security and law enforcement while putting fresh emphasis on prevention and treatment.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

President George W. Bush's drug czar, John Walters, agreed on the need for a multifaceted approach.

"It's not an endless battle, and it's not a war like the Vietnam War," said Walters in a separate interview. "The issue of the 'war' has become a kind of metaphor for using inappropriate means, or focusing on force, or focusing on the supply side rather than the demand side. We have learned that we need balance."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Obama also offered assurance Americans won't be put at risk when he closes the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfers some detainees to U.S. facilities. Texas Republicans in Congress are among those who have denounced his plan, insisting he send terror suspects elsewhere.

"We already have experience with terrorists who are in federal prisons," Obama said. "And there's been no indication that the safety or security of prison guards or of surrounding communities have been compromised."

On food safety, Obama said he has ordered the Agriculture Department and the Health and Human Services Department to work more closely and develop better procedures, after a salmonella outbreak traced to peanut processors in Texas and Georgia. The nation needs "better warning signals" from food producers and an ability to track contamination more quickly, he said.

___

© 2009, The Dallas Morning News.

Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Obama says NASA's next leader must end agency's 'drift'

By Mark K. Matthews

The Orlando Sentinel

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama said Wednesday that NASA is an agency afflicted by "a sense of drift" and that it needs "a new mission that is appropriate for the 21at century."

Obama said the first priority of a new agency administrator _ whom he promised to appoint "soon" _ would be "to think through what NASA's core mission is and what the next great adventures and discoveries are under the NASA banner."

Until that happens, he said during a session with reporters from the Orlando Sentinel and other regional newspapers, the White House would delay any major policy decisions about the agency.

That would likely ensure the retirement of the space shuttle in 2010 _ as Obama called for in the budget proposal he gave Congress last month _ and pave the way for massive job losses at Kennedy Space Center and the surrounding Space Coast in Florida.

Obama took only one question about NASA. He said nothing about whether he wants to continue the Bush administration's Constellation program, intended to send astronauts to the moon by 2020. The program's Ares I rocket is behind schedule and over budget, leading to speculation that it will miss its targeted 2015 launch date and further reduce the skilled work force at KSC.

He was also silent about the fate of the $100 billion international space station. Once the shuttle is retired, NASA will depend on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for access to the station.

Obama made clear that the agency, which has been without an administrator since his Jan. 20 inauguration, could not continue on its current course.

"Shaping a mission for NASA that is appropriate for the 21st century is going to be one of the biggest tasks of my new NASA director," he said. "What I don't want NASA to do is just limp along. And I don't think that's good for the economy in the region, either."

Several names have been floated as possible replacements for former agency chief Michael Griffin. Congressional and space-industry sources said the current front-runner appears to be Steve Isakowitz, a former NASA official now with the Department of Energy who is said to have the strong support of Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.

Other candidates include former NASA astronaut Charles Bolden, a favorite of Florida's Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, and two retired Air Force generals, Lester L. Lyles and J. Scott Gration.

Since taking office, Obama has said little about NASA. The only clues to his policy aims were included in his proposed 2010 budget, which called for the shuttle's retirement next year but added one additional launch if it can be done "safely and affordably."

But with eight missions needed after Discovery to finish construction of the space station, it could be difficult to cram another launch into the schedule before the 2010 deadline. The bonus mission Obama touted would ferry a physics experiment to the space station.

The end of the shuttle era is expected to devastate Kennedy Space Center and the Space Coast. KSC's main function is to launch shuttles and other NASA rockets. With nothing to fly, there would be little work.

NASA estimates that at least 3,500 KSC jobs would be lost, while shuttle contractors put the estimate at 10,000. With each NASA job credited with creating 2.8 others in the community, an additional 9,870 to 28,200 jobs would be at risk.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

During his hourlong press briefing, Obama touched on several other topics:

_High-speed rail: He said he wishes he could have shoehorned more than $8 billion in his economic-stimulus package for high-speed rail. Florida officials are interested in a high-speed-rail project that would connect Tampa, Orlando and Miami.

One advocate, U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, said he couldn't be "more enthusiastic" about Obama's support. "I have to be careful how much I praise him," Mica joked. "It's one of the most exciting things I have ever been involved in."

_Voting Rights Act: The president voiced his continued support for Department of Justice reviews of states, primarily Southern, that wish to implement changes that could affect minorities' voting rights. "That's not such a huge hurdle to jump through," he said. Several Florida counties are affected by the law.

_Mexican drug violence: Obama said he has not yet decided whether to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to combat growing drug-related violence. "We are going to examine whether, and if, National Guard deployments would make sense and under what circumstances they would make sense . . .," he said. But he noted: "We have a very big border with Mexico, so I'm not interested in militarizing the border."

___ WHO'S IN MIX?

President Obama says a new NASA chief will be named "soon." Top candidates:

_Steve Isakowitz: Insiders say ex-NASA official is in lead.

_Charles Bolden: Ex-astronaut has Florida Sen. Bill Nelson's support.

_Lester L. Lyles, J. Scott Gration: Retired Air Force generals.

___

© 2009, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).

Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Congress Sends $787 Billion Stimulus to Obama's Desk

By David Lightman
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ Congress, voting largely along party lines, Friday voted to jolt the nation's struggling economy with a $787.2 billion stimulus package designed to provide quick tax relief and create or save 3.5 million jobs.

The Senate approved the package by a 60-38 vote, as 55 Democrats joined three moderate Republicans and two independents. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., did not vote, and one of Minnesota's seats remains vacant. The final, deciding vote was cast by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who had returned to Washington late Friday after his mother's funeral.

Earlier in the day, the House passed the plan, 246-183. Among those voting, all 176 Republicans and seven Democrats voted no.

The bill now goes to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it early next week.

Once he does, some of the money should start flowing quickly. The bill promises some relatively quick job creation by spending $27.5 billion to modernize roads and bridges, $16.4 billion for investments in high-speed rail and transit, and $53.6 billion to help states pay education expenses.

It also includes up to 33 weeks of additional jobless benefits in high unemployment states, as well an extra $25 a week in benefits; funds to help the poor and those with disabilities with health care costs; and payments of $250 to retirees, Supplemental Security Income recipients and veterans who get pensions or disability payments.

GOP critics were bitter, charging that the bill was dotted with favors to special interests that had no business in emergency legislation, and that it offered too few tax cuts.

They ridiculed one of the biggest provisions, Obama's signature "Making Work Pay" tax relief, which provides $400 to most taxpayers. The credit, estimated to cost $116.2 billion, should mean only $13 a week this year, assuming the plan begins in June, and $8 a week next year.

"Thirteen bucks a week isn't going to do a whole lot to get this economy going again," said House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana.

Republicans also objected that congressional negotiators worked largely behind closed doors to cobble the bill together quickly this week, despite Obama's promises of transparency. And when copies of the 1,073 page, eight-inch thick bill became available only a few hours before the votes, it had changes scribbled in ink in the margins.

The mood among supporters was a combination of relief, euphoria _ and confusion in the final hours.

The bill was pieced together only after some messy last-minute scrambling, as lawmakers pleaded Thursday to get more pet projects shoehorned into the measure. A provision was added that could give General Motors _ already getting a $13.4 billion federal bailout _ a $3.2 billion break that could lower future taxes.

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Republicans whose votes were crucial to final Senate passage, sought and got an expanded tax break for small business.

Even the bill's Democratic defenders warned that the legislation wouldn't spark an instant economic turnaround. The nation has lost 3.6 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, and the bill's supporters predict that the stimulus would allow the economy to recover almost an equal number of jobs, but not rapidly _ nor would they be the same jobs.

Its backers said the bill would ease the recession's impact and perhaps allow the economy to revive sooner.

"The American people understand that the legislation we send to the president's desk will not solve this crisis overnight," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "We cannot say for certain when this crisis will end, but we do know for certain that this is when recovery must begin."

The bill aims to provide stimulus in four general ways: Tax relief, investments in the future, immediate job creation and help for people struggling.

One of the biggest tax expenses is the $70 billion "patch" in the alternative minimum tax, so that about 26 million people won't be subject to the tax this year. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., disputed the impact of this provision, noting that it simply extends current policies rather than puts new money into anyone's pockets.

The Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, two respected center-left policy research organizations, agrees.

The other major break is the $400 "Making Work Pay" credit, which will phase out at $95,000 for single taxpayers and $190,000 for joint filers.

Other tax cuts are more targeted to boost specific industries or groups. The first $2,400 of jobless benefits this year won't be counted as taxable income. Most new car buyers can deduct state and local sales taxes on the purchase. First-time home buyers who purchase a home until Dec. 1 can get up to an $8,000 tax credit.

Short-term job creation is expected from the education and infrastructure spending. The $53.6 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund includes $40 billion for local school districts, which could use it for school modernization, teacher pay and other expenses.

Infrastructure spending includes $27.5 billion for rebuilding roads and bridges _ half of which must be committed to projects within 120 days _ and $19 billion for clean water and flood control projects.

The investments for the future are seen as ways of assuring that jobs will be created in later years. Some $30 billion would be spent on developing a new, more efficient power grid, advanced battery technology and other energy efficiency measures. And the bill provides $20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy over the next 10 years.

In addition, the measure contains more than $15 billion for scientific research. More than half would go to the National Institutes of Health for biomedical research to study Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer and heart disease.
___
© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.
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GRAPHICS (from MCT Graphics, 202-383-6064): STIMULUS

Inauguration: Obama Retakes Oath

CNN: President Obama has retaken the oath of office after a mix-up during the inaugural ceremony, the White House says.

Inauguration: Video Highlights

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Inauguruation: Kennedy suffers seizure at Obama lunch

By Warren P. Strobel
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ Sen. Edward Kennedy suffered a seizure Tuesday during an inaugural luncheon honoring President Barack Obama and was taken to a Washington-area hospital, a jarring note in the Capitol a little more than two hours after Obama took the oath of office.

Kennedy, 76, who had surgery after being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor eight months ago, was said by Senate colleagues to be alert and speaking before being put into an ambulance.

He was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where he was being assessed.

Vickie Dempsey, a hospital spokeswoman, said Kennedy was awake and talking when he arrived at the hospital. Kennedy's wife, Victoria, and his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., were with the senator, she said.

"Senator Edward Kennedy experienced a seizure today while attending a luncheon for President Barack Obama in the U.S. Capitol," said Dr. Edward Aulisi, the chairman of the neurosurgery department at Washington Hospital Center. "After testing, we believe the incident was brought on by simple fatigue. Senator Kennedy is awake, talking with family and friends, and feeling well. He will remain at the Washington Hospital Center overnight for observation, and will be released in the morning."

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., a close Kennedy friend who spoke to the ailing senator after the attack, said earlier that Kennedy would undergo medical scans in the coming days.

"The good news is he's going to be fine," Dodd said.

On May 17 last year, Kennedy had a seizure and was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was found to have a dangerous type of brain tumor.

He's since scaled back his work in the Senate. He was present _ and apparently in good spirits _ on the Capitol steps Tuesday, however, as Obama was sworn in as the nation's 44th president.

Kennedy had endorsed Obama at a crucial juncture in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, providing Obama's campaign with a much-needed boost.

Addressing the celebratory luncheon Tuesday in the U.S. Capitol building's Statuary Hall, whose 200 guests included members of Congress and former presidents, Obama said his thoughts were with Kennedy and his family.

"This is a joyous time, but it is also a sobering time," the new president said.

Kennedy's medical distress upset another ailing lawmaker, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who subsequently left the lunch early, according to a spokesman. Byrd, 91, later was reported to be in good condition.

Dodd said that the doctors who'd examined Kennedy "were satisfied that things were looking fine." He said Kennedy had talked to him as he was taken to the ambulance. "He was in distress and still reacting to the seizure."

Byrd, Dodd said, was "reacting to Ted having the apparent seizure."
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McClatchy Newspapers correspondents Jonathan S. Landay and David Lightman contributed to this report.
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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.
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PHOTO (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): Inauguration+Ted+Kennedy
GRAPHIC (from MCT Graphics, 202-383-6064): 20090120 Kennedy profile

Election Will Be Here Sooner Than You Think

Especially as an East student with next Tuesday and Wednesday's mock election.

Social study teachers will be taking their students to cast their votes next week on one of the two days. The Leadership class, which is organizing the election, tell us the results will be available a short time after the polls close.

Will East lean blue like the rest of the state? We'll find out next week. We'll be sure to post the results once we have them.