So, at last Minnesota gets it’s second Senator

McClatchy Washington Bureau, June 30th, 2009

WASHINGTON — Comedian Al Franken officially won the Minnesota U. S. Senate seat Tuesday, as the state’s Supreme Court ordered that he be certified as the winner of last year’s election and incumbent Republican Norm Coleman conceded.

Franken’s win gives Democrats control of 60 Senate seats, a filibuster-proof majority. That means that Democrats, if they’re unified, will be able to block Republicans from exploiting Senate rules to prevent votes on legislation, enhancing the Democrats’ ability to enact their party’s agenda into law. More…

Senator John Coryn R-TX who declared WORLD WAR III over this issue now says “the courts have spoken and I join Norm…[this decision gives] the American people particularily clear choice next year.”

Congress Approves Budget

$3.5 Trillion Spending Plan To Pay for Obama Initiatives

Washington Post, April 2nd, 2009

Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly embraced President Obama’s ambitious and expensive agenda for the nation yesterday, endorsing a $3.5 trillion spending plan that sets the stage for the president to pursue his most far-reaching priorities.

Voting along party lines, the House and Senate approved budget blueprints that would trim Obama’s spending proposals for the fiscal year that begins in October and curtail his plans to cut taxes. The blueprints, however, would permit work to begin on the central goals of Obama’s presidency: an expansion of health-care coverage for the uninsured, more money for college loans and a cap-and-trade system to reduce gases that contribute to global warming.

The measures now move to a conference committee where negotiators must resolve differences between the two chambers, a prelude to the more difficult choices that will be required to implement Obama’s initiatives. While Democrats have sanctioned the president’s vision for transforming huge sectors of the economy, they remain fiercely divided over the details. More…

New York Times, March 9th, 2009

Obama Puts His Own Spin on Mix of Science With Politics

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s directive on Monday to “guarantee scientific integrity” in federal policy making could have a far-reaching impact, affecting issues as varied as climate change, national security, protection of endangered species and children’s health.

But it will not divorce science from politics, or strip ideology from presidential decisions.

Mr. Obama delighted many scientists and patients by formally announcing that he was overturning the Bush administration’s limits on embryonic stem cell research. But the president also went one step further, issuing a memorandum that sets forth broad parameters for how his administration would choose expert advisers and use scientific data. More…

Associated Press, Washington Bureau, February 23rd, 2009

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama gave America the audacity to hope again.

After describing the U.S. economy in nearly apocalyptic terms for weeks, pushing his $787 billion stimulus plan through Congress, the president used his address to Congress on Tuesday night to tap the deep well of American optimism — the never-say-die spirit that every president tries to capture in words. And great presidents embody.

“We will rebuild. We will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before,” Obama said, echoing Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.

“The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach,” Obama said. “What is required now for this country is to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more.”

The themes of responsibility, accountability and, above all, national community rang throughout an address carefully balanced by the gravity of its times. Job losses. Home foreclosures. Credit crisis. Rising health care costs. Declining trust in government. Obama touched all those bases.

“The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere,” he said.

It seemed that the president might be sticking to the dour talking points of the stimulus debate, when he warned that failure to pass the legislation would lead to a catastrophe “as deep and dire as any since the Great Depression,” one that “we may be unable to reverse.”

Fearing (and hearing) the worst, Americans supported Obama’s package and lawmakers passed it. But his rhetoric carried a risk.

None other than former President Bill Clinton, husband of Obama’s former rival and now Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, complained that the president’s words were too much of a downer. The president from Hope, Ark., told the author of “The Audacity of Hope” to get back on message. More…

Today President Obama is celebrating the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as a “major milestone on our road to recovery,” while still emphasizing that we have many miles yet to go.

“This historic step won’t be the end of what we do to turn our economy around, but the beginning,” he says in his weekly address. To get us there, he invokes President Kennedy, who said, “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.”

Deal announced on emergency stimulus plan

Associated Press, February 6th, 2009

WASHINGTON – With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with a small group of Republicans Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama’s plan for combatting the worst recession in decades.

“The American people want us to work together. They don’t want to see us dividing along partisan lines on the most serious crisis confronting our country,” said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of three Republican moderates who broke ranks and pledged their votes for the bill.

Democratic leaders expressed confidence that the concessions they had made to Republicans and moderate Democrats to trim the measure had cleared the way for its passage. No final vote was expected before Monday.

Officials put the cost of the bill at $827 billion, including Obama’s signature tax cut of up to $1,000 for working couples, even if they earn too little to pay income taxes. Also included are breaks for homebuyers and people buying new cars. Much of the new spending would be for victims of the recession, in the form of unemployment compensation, health care and food stamps. More…

McClatchy Washington Bureau, February 5th, 2009

WASHINGTON — This much is clear: Sometime soon, probably this month, President Barack Obama will sign an economic stimulus plan.

However, it probably will have at least $50 billion less spending than the Senate’s current version does, and it probably will win a handful of Republican votes after lengthy White House-congressional negotiations.

Senators huddled on Wednesday — with each other and with Obama — trying to craft a plan that will get the 60 votes needed under Senate rules to stop any filibuster, the tactic that obstructs extended debate.

Republican moderates, joined by some Democrats, were looking for a way to pare the $900 billion-plus package by at least $50 billion, likely by cutting much of the education aid and a long list of small spending initiatives. More…

CQ Politics Online, January 28th, 2009

The House passed an $819 billion economic stimulus bill Wednesday after rejecting a Republican substitute that would have made deeper tax cuts than the legislation proposes.

The final-passage tally was 244-188. Democrats say the bill (HR 1) is necessary to cushion the blow from the recession and make important investments in energy, health care and infrastructure. President Obama and his allies say it will provide a short-term spur to the sagging economy and make investments with a long-term impact.

Republicans, however, argue that the bill should be tilted more sharply toward tax cuts, which they say will generate the most economic activity the fastest. Their substitute amendment, which proposed cutting individual and business taxes as well as reducing much of the bill’s spending, was rejected by a vote of 170-266. The measure was estimated to be worth $478.7 billion over 10 years.

In remarks at the White House earlier in the day, Obama had called for the bill’s passage.

“I know that some are skeptical about the size and scale of this recovery plan. I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my administration accountable,” he said. “Instead of just throwing money at our problems, we’ll try something new in Washington — we’ll invest in what works.” More…

New York Times, January 27th, 2009

WASHINGTON — The economic stimulus plan that Congress has scheduled for a vote on Wednesday would shower the nation’s school districts, child care centers and university campuses with $150 billion in new federal spending, a vast two-year investment that would more than double the Department of Education’s current budget.

The proposed emergency expenditures on nearly every realm of education, including school renovation, special education, Head Start and grants to needy college students, would amount to the largest increase in federal aid since Washington began to spend significantly on education after World War II.

Critics and supporters alike said that by its sheer scope, the measure could profoundly change the federal government’s role in education, which has traditionally been the responsibility of state and local government.

Responding in part to a plea from Democratic governors earlier this month, Congress allocated $79 billion to help states facing large fiscal shortfalls maintain government services, and especially to avoid cuts to education programs, from pre-kindergarten through higher education. More…

Washington Post, December 16th, 2008

In seven years as chief executive of the Chicago school system, Arne Duncan earned a reputation as a leader who pushed for strong measures to improve schools but also reached out to the teachers union and the community.

As President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to be become the nation’s next education secretary, he’ll draw on that background to try and bridge the deep divides among education advocates, teachers unions and civil rights groups over how to fix America’s schools.

“When it comes to school reform, Arne is the most hands-on of hands-on practitioners,” Obama said in a televised news conference at a Chicago school this morning as he announced the nomination.

The president-elect noted that Duncan had closed some “failing” schools and championed public charter schools despite controversy. “When faced with tough decisions, Arne doesn’t blink,” Obama said. More…

Additional coverage concerning this appointment from Bloomberg News, Chicago Tribune, and Time Magazine.