Wall Street Journal — Obama Will Not Name ‘Car Czar’ to Oversee Detroit
In a sign of the shifting economic approach in the White House, the White House is taking a team approach to administering and extending the bailout offered to GM and Chrysler last year. While the Bush administration wanted a Car Czar, Obama will have more like a car politburo.
Writer Deborah Solomon explains how Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and economic advisor Larry Summers will lead a team that works to fundamentally remake the auto industry. Auto company leaders – whose interim reports on sustainability are due to the government this week – have expressed concern about the delay in standards created by the shift. But based on their situation, they’re not in much position to complain about anything.
“The auto companies were given the loans as a sort of bridge financing to help them through tough economic times and their own missteps while working on plans to make their industries more viable for the long-term. Government officials believe both GM and Chrysler may soon need more money.”
Washington Post — Politically, Stimulus Battle Has Just Begun
Writers Michael Shear and Paul Kane talk about the political stakes of the stimulus battle and how the new Republican “it” boy, Eric Cantor, want to hang the spending plan around the necks of the majority party when the economy stagnates.
Shear and Kane seem to conclude that when the economy inevitably rebounds in the near to middle term, still-popular president Obama will be able to claim credit and paint the GOP as an obstructionist gang.
The writers do brush at the idea of how uneasy folks are about the wild spending going on in Washington.
“But the massive stimulus plan has given Republicans a political opportunity to try to erase the memory of those years by convincing the country that they have found religion again when it comes to spending.
Cantor says bluntly that Obama and Democrats have decided to ‘assume ownership of the era of the bailout.’ And he predicted that voters will recoil at the prospect of huge and growing deficits and an increase in the size and role of the federal government in their lives.”
Wall Street Journal — Axelrod: Obama Has ‘Solid’ Housing Plan
Writer John McKinnon explains what else the president will be up to when he heads to Denver Tuesday to sign his stimulus bill. The idea seems to be starting his sales pitch on the rest of his plan, especially a housing package.
Another round of relief spending, concurrent with Tim Geithner’s bailout pitch, will test the outer limits of Obama’s popularity.
“One likely element of the plan would reduce Americans’ payments on troubled mortgages, people familiar with the discussions said late last week, possibly through a cut in the interest rate, the costs of which would be shared by the government and mortgage servicers. Government officials would make the reduction available to people who are at risk of defaulting.”
Politico: Burris under an ethical cloud
Who knew that Roland Burris would cause any trouble for the Democrats who ended up welcoming him to the Senate? As Burris’ description of his relationship with Rod Blagojevich continues to evolve, it seems that at the very least, there will be more grisly details coming out about Illinois politics.
Writer Manu Raju, though explains how Burris benefactors Dick Durbin and Harry Reid were already preparing to sell Dr. Burris out.
“Senior aides to Reid and Durbin said the two leaders were reviewing the situation and only learned that Burris had submitted a new affidavit on Friday — nine days after he submitted it to state legislators. Durbin, who learned about the new developments in a brief conversation with Burris on Friday, is on a congressional delegation to Cyprus, Turkey and Greece — and he’s traveling with Alexi Giannoulias, the Illinois state treasurer who is considering a run in the 2010 Democratic Senate primary.”
New York Times — Obama Confronts a Choice on Copters
Writer Peter Baker gives all the detail imaginable about the tough spot in which President Obama finds himself over the beleaguered contract for a fleet of new Marine One helicopters. But the situation seems to be mostly rotor wash.
Republicans usually like spending on things with new missile systems, it was a Bush administration initiative and everybody wants the president to be safe. There will be a few Lou Dobbs types who complain about “fat cat” perks, etc., but this is likely a one-day story unless Obama opts to spike the project. It is a lot of cash, though
“Equipped to deflect missile attacks and capable of waging war from the air, the new VH-71 helicopters would fly farther, faster and more safely than the current decades-old craft. But each improvement pushes up the cost. The program’s original $6.1 billion contract has ballooned to $11.2 billion, and the Pentagon notified Congress last month that it was so far over budget that the law required a review. The Obama administration now must determine if the project is essential to national security and if there are alternatives that would cost less.”
New York Times — Chávez Decisively Wins Bid to End Term Limits
Writer Simon Romero explains how the ugly South American Hugo Chavez’s latest win – which puts him one step away from president for life – will complicate things for a new American foreign policy that prizes mutual understanding and dialogue.
“The United States, a frequent target of Mr. Chávez’s ire, was also watching. The Obama administration so far has toned down its approach to dealing with Venezuela, one of the largest sources of imported crude oil to the United States.”
