[Translate] Obama's April 13th speech made it plain he's not caving in to extremist rhetoric and will seek pragmatic solutions. The President made a compelling case for his vision of the future of the United States, putting the GOP on notice that he is committed to the quality of life for every citizen. The debate over deficits and the federal budget, he said, is about more than just cutting and spending, characterizing the conversation as about the kind of future we want. In a pointed reference to the so-called Ryan plan,...
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[Translate] Finally it seems the stock market hit bottom. After losing value since last fall, the market gained — in fits and starts — 700 points. To me, it means the market hits equilibrium where the total wealth spent in the market has matched the price level. Now, the President’s policies have not entirely taken effect, but we can say that the efforts to save key Wall Street businesses set the ground work for this recovery. To me we’re all the way there — recovered — when...
[Translate] President Barack Obama gave his first press conference of his young administration Monday evening. Here’s CQPolitics video summary: Here’s the text From WhiteHouse.gov of what he said to open the questions: OPENING REMARKS OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA — AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERYFirst Presidential Press ConferenceEast Room, The White HouseMonday, February 9th, 2009 Good evening. Before I take your questions tonight, I’d like to speak briefly about the state of our economy and why I believe we need to put...
[Translate] Senators reach deal to cut stimulus bill to $780B: “With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with key 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 two GOP senators who...
[Translate] More from “The Washington Monthly”: “THE ‘OLD’ MCCAIN ISN’T COMING BACK…. As much as I’d like to ignore John McCain’s “analysis” of the economic stimulus plan, he’s not making it easy. For the last couple of weeks, he’s been on all the networks, undermining the administration’s plan, questioning the president’s integrity, and making strange policy arguments. With no obvious Republican leader on the national stage, the media is still turning to...
[Translate] More at NY Daily News: “Mayor Bloomberg’s bad-news budget tries to plug a $4 billion hole with less than $2 billion worth of spending cuts and new sales taxes – and counts on unions, Albany and the federal govermment to come up with the rest.He proposed a $43.4 billion budget Friday for the fiscal year starting July 1, up $123 million from the year before – one that slices deep into the pockets of city residents and the ranks of city workers.“Are we going to go through some difficult times? I don’t...
[Translate] More at washingtonpost.com: “President Obama, who promoted the $825 billion package at the Capitol yesterday, says the proposal serves two functions — creating jobs and stimulating the economy in the short term, and laying the groundwork for overhauls in energy, health care and infrastructure that would be felt for decades. But some administration supporters say that while they appreciate Obama’s intent, the two goals are competing with each other, and that the package could end up missing both targets. In...
[Translate] More at Huff Post: “WASHINGTON — The recession is killing jobs at an alarming pace, with tens of thousands of new layoffs announced Monday by some of the biggest names in American business _ Pfizer, Caterpillar and Home Depot. More pink slips, pay freezes and other hits are expected to slam workers in the months ahead as companies desperately look for ways to survive. “We’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg _ the big firms,” said Rebecca Braeu, economist at John Hancock Financial Services. “There’s...
[Translate] More at SFGate.com: “A bankruptcy judge says Circuit City Stores Inc. can liquidate its remaining 567 U.S. stores. Circuit City needed approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Huennekens (HIN-a-kins) to begin to put itself out of business. It sought a buyout deal, but one could not be reached.” ...
[Translate] More at LA Observed : “Americans who watch TV don’t watch the Golden Globes any more, even if the newspapers, blogs and celebrity cable channels continue to insist they are a big thing. An average of 14.6 million viewers nationwide tuned in over three hours, down 26% from two years ago in the 18-49 niche and the worst audience since NBC took over. The Globes’s did a little better than “Desperate Housewives” and “24,” but only a little better — and “24″ is on Fox.” ...
[Translate] For me this was a ton of fun to do. But it’s even better when someone takes time to let folks know you did a great job. Such was the case with the CNN iReport and CNN.com, who contacted me regarding my question for CNN’s Ali Velshi on what he thought of giving $3,500 to each American taxpayer under $100,000. Here’s the video: Embedded video from CNN Video This is what CNN iReport’s Rachel8 wrote: Would you go head-to-head with CNN’s top economic expert on an economic stimulus plan? How...
[Translate] More at Huff Post: “WASHINGTON — Sales of new homes fell in November to the slowest pace in nearly 18 years, while new home prices dropped by the biggest amount in eight months. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that new home sales fell 2.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 407,000 units. That was a weaker performance than economists had expected and was the slowest sales pace since January 1991. The median price of a new home sold in November was $220,400, a drop of 11.5 percent from the...
