New York Times – A Leadership Test for an Unbowed Pelosi
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sat down with the Times’ John Harwood for a chat, and the embattled speaker again maintains that attacks on her for dissembling about waterboarding and then accusing the CIA of criminal dishonesty are a Republican effort to distract from other more important issues.
But Pelosi’s problem isn’t with Republicans. It’s with Democrats who now feel less comfortable with her being part of the accountability structure in Washington. Her attack on the CIA was blunted by the fact that former Democratic Rep. turned CIA boss Leon Panetta so quickly swatted it down and her shifty performance at a press conference last week raised many eyebrows.
Pelosi, sounding like Hilary Clinton in May of 2008, explained that she got results – trying to keep the specter of the GOP boogeyman alive. But Dems aren’t exactly worried about resurgent Republicans these days and Pelosi sounds more than a little Queeg-like as she defended her performance.
“‘Not one of these people has done anything to create one job,’ Ms. Pelosi said, invoking the economy to rebut her partisan critics. ‘They want to create an illusion and get the spotlight off of their own lack of ideas and their own creation of this policy of torture.’
To stop that policy, Ms. Pelosi added tartly, ‘my job was to win — and we won.’”
Washington Post – At Geithner’s Treasury, Key Decisions on Hold
Writer David Cho paints an unsettling picture of life in Tim Geithner’s Treasury Department in which big decisions are piling up but there is a lack of execution.
Geithner is still without a deputy and Treasury sources told Cho that a claque of advisors around him are operating without clear responsibilities. As a result, things like whether or not to pay a promised bonus to the GM CEO sacked by President Obama, which foreign banks were eligible for TARP and even a small business loan program get bottled up because of unclear authority and mandates.
Part of the problem, career Treasury employees say, is a change in the Treasury/White House dynamic.
“But now, even minor matters, such as Web site design or news releases, are reviewed by the White House. Staff members detailed from the National Economic Council, reporting directly to Obama senior economist Lawrence H. Summers, roam the Treasury building. Treasury staff members working on restructuring the nation’s automakers took much of their direction from the NEC, sources said.
Geithner said he welcomes the input from senior White House officials because they provide intelligent feedback and because he has been short-staffed. After studying the last dozen Treasury secretaries, Geithner said he became convinced that the Treasury needed to closely collaborate with the White House.
But the time spent meeting with White House colleagues on high-priority issues — from the federal budget and tax policy to health-care reform and a proposed overhaul of financial regulation — has left him little chance to manage his staff.”
New York Times — Pakistan Is Rapidly Adding Nuclear Arms, U.S. Says
Pakistan’s government may not be able to deal with the Taliban and there may be hundreds of thousands refugees adrift in the nation, but one thing the regime in Islamabad can still do is build nukes.
Writers Thom Shanker and David Sanger look at public statement and get private confirmation that Pakistan has been pumping up it’s nuclear program of late. That worries India, non-proliferation advocates, anti-terrorism forces and the members of Congress being asked by President Obama to pour billions of more dollars into the shaky government there.
“Whether that discomfort might result in a delay or reduction in aid to Pakistan is still unclear. The Congressional briefings have taken place in recent weeks as Pakistan has descended into further chaos and as Congress has considered proposals to spend $3 billion over the next five years to train and equip Pakistan’s military for counterinsurgency warfare. That aid would come on top of $7.5 billion in civilian assistance.”
Wall Street Journal — Club for Growth Wears on Some Republicans
The Club for Growth and it’s immediate past president Pat Toomey get the credit/blame for running Arlen Specter out of the Republican Party.
Writer Naftali Bendavid explains that some Republicans think all that fiscal conservatism is hurting the party since they target liberal Republicans in Dem states like Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Liberal Republicans point to Rahm Emanuel’s success in recruiting candidates that matched their districts, not those that hewed to party orthodoxy.
But the Club isn’t that strident and one area where the GOP could use a little burnishing is in fiscal restraint – especially when inflationary deficits start rolling in.
Plus, the Club is gathering strength enough to actually help in general elections.
“The Washington-based Club, established in 1999, mounts lobbying and public-education campaigns but is best known for its political-action committee, which directs money to Republican candidates. The Club’s PAC spent $3.6 million in 2008 to promote or oppose candidates, and its members donated an additional $6.1 million to Club-endorsed candidates.
Club leaders insist that rarely has their involvement resulted in Democratic gains. Thirty-seven Republicans currently in Congress were elected with Club support, they add.”
Los Angeles Times – Industry is warming up to Obama’s climate plan
Like suspects in a caper movie, some carbon emitters are hoping to get the best deal by being the first to cooperate with authorities.
Writer Jim Tankersly expresses strange surprise that coal burners like Alcoa – barely making it as it is – would be interested in being granted most favored polluter status under the Obama plan.
But the reason enviros and good government types are increasingly down on the plan that Henry Waxman will start moving today is that it treats the same emissions differently depending on who is releasing them. By creating billions of dollars worth of government handouts out of thick air, the president’s plan invites mischief.
“[Alcoa] has already cut emissions by a third from 1990 levels. If it continued to reduce emissions — through such measures as replacing petroleum lubricants in its rolling mills with advanced vegetable oils — while keeping its full quota of free permits, it would have surplus permits that it could sell to other emitters. Those profits could help pay for greener technology.
In effect, a cap and trade system designed that way would stimulate the drive to reduce emissions, advocates say.
And Alcoa officials see another benefit: Government pressure for cleaner air would increase consumer demand for lightweight cars and more efficient buildings — boosting the market for aluminum.”
