The Guardian — Divisions emerge in international response to North Korean rocket launch
Lots of good diplomatic vibes from the president’s trip abroad haven’t stopped the dithering at the U.N. over the North Korean missile launch. The administration wants a coordinated response and broad agreement from the U.N. Security Council. Members China and Russia explain that isn’t how it works.
“China, a historical ally of and food supplier to North Korea, has called on all sides to remain calm.
‘Our position is that all countries concerned should show restraint and refrain from taking action that might lead to increased tension,’ Zhang Yesui, the Chinese ambassador to the UN, told reporters.
Russia described the North Korean rocket launch as ‘regrettable’, but stopped short of confirming whether the launch had violated existing resolutions.
‘Before embarking on any actions, we should understand the character of this launch because, at this particular moment, we do not have a clearcut picture,’ Igor Scherbak, the deputy Russian permanent UN representative, said.”
Wall Street Journal — U.S. Offers to Cut Nuclear Arms
You may say he’s a dreamer, but President Obama is not the only one. Giving a major speech on his intention to have the U.S. take the first step in eliminating nuclear weapons entirely, Obama sounded like the nuclear freeze advocates of his party from the 1970s and 1980s.
Even though the NoComs managed to set off a missile, the major concern for world leaders remains Iran, where Obama has indicated he might support a peaceful nuclear program. His plan was a hit with the leader of Iran’s biggest trading partner.
“European Union security officials and leaders expressed delight at Mr. Obama’s nuclear agenda. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said engagement with Iran, convening a nuclear summit and relaunching arms-control negotiations with Russia were practical steps ‘that send a strong signal.’”
Washington Post — Obama’s Machine Sputters in Effort to Push Budget
The results are in from the first effort by the Obama administration to use its online network and cash reserves to create direct support for its policies. The pledge and recruit effort on the president’s budget and economic plan didn’t work out. The push netted about 214,000 pledges for the effort with almost no appreciable impact on Capitol Hill. Fundraising for Democrats has remained low and the party is still looking for a way to recapture last fall’s Obama fever.
Writer Don Eggen, though, shows where it all is heading. The group will continue to shrink down to a core of the most loyal operatives from its original vision of a broad coalition of change-oriented Americans. But having an army of political shock troops – even if it’s 214,000 – can be a major resource. Republicans, though, seemed unimpressed.
“Republicans scoffed at the effort, arguing that it showed that even most diehard Obama supporters were uncertain about the wisdom of the president’s budget plan. Several GOP aides noted that the number of pledges gathered online amounted to fewer than 1 percent of the names on Obama’s vaunted e-mail list.
‘The phones rang off the hook this week, but the overwhelming majority of calls came from Kentuckians who agreed that this budget spends, taxes and borrows way too much,’ said John Ashbrook, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).”
Pew Research Center — Partisan Gap in Obama Job Approval Widest in Modern Era
President Obama has maintained a job approval level on par with recent past presidents (higher than Clinton, lower than Carter), but he’s doing so with lots of love from Democrats and little support from Republicans.
“For all of his hopes about bipartisanship, Barack Obama has the most polarized early job approval ratings of any president in the past four decades. The 61-point partisan gap in opinions about Obama’s job performance is the result of a combination of high Democratic ratings for the president — 88% job approval among Democrats — and relatively low approval ratings among Republicans (27%).”
Wall Street Journal — Rattner Rises as Obama’s Mr. Fix-It
With revelations Friday that Obama’s ecoomic team – especially Larry Summers – got lots and lots of quick and easy cash last year in bonuses and speaking fees, Neil King and Peter Lattman take a look at where the top man on the presidential task force running GM and Chrysler got his bread buttered.
Stephen Rattner went from New York Times Washington reporter to hedge funder to Democratic money man. The infrence from the Journal piece is that Rattner is now ready to use his job directing the bailouts of GM and Chrysler to establish himself in politics and government.
He brings with him a reputation as an ace dealmaker, even if all the deals haven’t worked out.
Of Rattmer’s high-profile investments, one of the most notable was $250 million for Alpha Media, publisher of bloke magazine, Maxim. But Rattner’s group borrowed most of the money it invested in the publisher. In his government job, he now oversees one of the lenders on the hook for his bad bet.
“Alpha presents another awkward issue for Mr. Rattner. One of the main lenders in the deal is Cerberus Capital Management LP, the private-equity firm that owns Chrysler and stands to lose a lot of money as a result of Mr. Rattner’s decisions in his new job. Cerberus controls a large chunk of Alpha Media’s $125 million in senior debt and could end up owning the company.”
