Politics Now

How close should Obama get to George W. Bush?

     WASHINGTON - In remarks on the economy in Chicago on Monday, President-elect Barack Obama came  close to saying that the lame duck President George W. Bush, whose broad unpopularity helped elect him, is consulting the Obama transition team on major economic moves.
    Obama didn't actually say Bush was consulting him, but the president-elect emphasized that Bush personally called him before the White House announced a massive bailout for CitiGroup. Bush might have saved himself the trouble. Robert Rubin, a director and senior counsellor of CitiGroup who was President Clinton's Treasury secretary, huddles almost daily with Obama on the banking and investment crisis.
    Bush is making his last round of trips before he leaves office at noon Jan. 20. But despite Bush's low ranking in the polls, Obama has slid ever closer to President Bush's stand on tax cuts, on the Iraq War, and the prospect of aiding the Big Three U.S. automakers.
     Obama's lieutenants are sending signals that he will put off for a while the increases in taxes on the rich that he promised during the presidential campaign. Obama has already backed off his plan to be out of Iraq in 16 months, a proposal that helped him win the Democratic  primary.
    And Obama's demand that Detroit come up a plan to use any bailout monies isn't too far from Bush's resistance to using any of the $700 billion fund investment bailout for the automakers.
     All of which has some of Obama's progressive supporters churning in their seats, particularly over the convergence of the CitiGroup rescue and Rubin's role as Obama's playmaker in the transition. Rubin recently was CitiGroup chairman, and Forbes magazine said Rubin has received $17 million in compensation from CitiGroup, and $33 million worth of CitiGroup stock options.
    Meanwhile, a Rubin protege, Lawrence Summers, has been tapped to become chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors. Summers succeeded Rubin as Clinton's Treasury secretary. Obama has named another senior Treasury official under Clinton, Timothy Geithner, to be his Treasury secretary. Geithner, as head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, helped guide the bailout of AIG as well as CitiGroup. These are not exactly Main Street folks. So far, Obama's proposed White House chief of staff, his chief counsel, his budget director, his Treasury secretary, his chief economic adviser, and his secretary of commerce all had key jobs under President Clinton.
     So there is a transition all right. But is it from Bush to Obama or a back-to-the-future gig from Bill Clinton to Obama?   

--Douglas Turner

Senator Who?

   WASHINGTON — Sen. Nydia Velazquez. Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand. Sen. Brian Higgins.

  Say what you will about our state's junior senator, but none of those monikers have quite the same ring as "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton."

   Yet it increasingly looks as if Clinton, after eight years representing New York in the Senate, will soon become secretary of state in the "team of rivals" that President-elect Barack Obama is assembling.

   And that leaves New York Gov. David Paterson with an important question to answer.

   If Clinton leaves the Senate, who should replace her?

   -- Jerry Zremski

Choices for Congress, UAW, the Big Three

     WASHINGTON - Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, has called on General Motors, Ford and Chrysler to come back here next month with a package that will "convince Congress and the American people that they will use (any federal assistance) to get back on their feet and remain a competitive and viable component of our economy."
    Slaughter's remarks reflected the views of the rest of the Democratic leadership in the wake of the failure of Republicans and Democrats to agree on a formula to use $25 billion of October's $700 billion package to stave off bankruptcy.
    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told a press conference today that the justification for that allocation "didn't materialize" during hearings this week at which executives of the Big Three and leaders of the United Auto Workers testified. Pelosi said the leaders have called on the automakers to submit their plan by Dec. 2. Pelosi said she hopes Detroit "will consider this good news, because it is."
    "It is another opportunity for them to say to the American people, give us your money because we will put it to good use," Pelosi said.
      Pelosi said she and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, sent a letter to the Big Three insisting on more accountability from them, including barring any dividends to stockholders while they are using federal money, and no bonuses for any executives making more than $200,000.
      The industry executives got a hostile reception from Republican and Democratic members. Their salaries, reaching to eight figures, were criticized; so was their use of separate corporate jets to get here. Senate Republicans denounced them for their plans to ship more production to Mexico, and to build cars in South America and China.
       The brass were also criticized for failing to innovate, and for resisting safety and environmental improvements over the last three decades.
         The UAW contracts were criticized for their lavish pension and health care plans, which add  thousands of dollars to the cost of each American-built vehicle over their Asian-model competitors.
         President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson reject the idea of the $25 billion being taken from a fund intended to stabilize financial institutions. Other Republicans have suggested the companies should file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganize, and draw up new labor and retiree agreements. Pelosi rejected the idea of bankruptcy, warning "that would be digging the hole far too deep."
        UAW President Ron Gettelfinger seemed equivocal about what more the unions will do to make a bailout plan more politically viable. He told Al Hunt, the Washington editor of Bloomberg News, "we are at the bargaining table every day working on things to make these companies, to put them in better shape if you will. Other people need to come in to see what they can do to assist these companies."
    "To say that we need to go in and do more, I think the UAW has been at the bargaining table, we remain at the bargaining table,'' Gettelfinger said.
      "I think if you go back and look at the flexibility that we've demonstrated in the past -- and I can just begin with the mid-contract in '05 -- we went in and adjusted a contract,'' he said. "Most people thought we wouldn't do that, but we did it because we needed to.''
      What should the unions, the corporate executives, the stockholders, Congress and the White House do to save these jobs and these companies? Should they go into bankruptcy?

--Douglas Turner

I

State cheers Hillary on to Foggy Bottom

       WASHINGTON -- Foggy Bottom is the local nickname for the State Department. It's built near a low-lying former industrial neighborhood off the Potomac River where fog or smoke used to collect. In any case, a Marist Poll indicated that most New Yorkers think it would be a great idea for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., to take over the place as President-elect  Barack Obama's secretary of state.

        According to a survey taken yesterday, 55 percent said they want Obama to name her to the job, as against 31 percent want her to remain in the Senate, to which she was re-elected for a six-year term in 2006. Undecideds amounted to 14 percent.

        She and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, would make a good team on the diplomatic front, they said, with 42 percent believing he would be a big help as against 22 percent who said he would hurt her. Close to a third, 32 percent, said he would not be a factor.

        As of Wednesday, former President Clinton's business arrangements could prove to be a stumbling block. About two days after it was leaked that Obama had discussed the job with Sen. Clinton, aides close to Obama put out word that the transition team was concerned that the former president's far-flung business arrangements, some with powerful foreign companies and governments, could complicate Hillary's life as the nation's top diplomat.

        These include, but are not limited to, huge six-figure speaking fees Bill Clinton accepted from controversial figures in Colombia, the $500 million in secret donations to his presidential library foundation, and his role as a consultant and advocate of the abortive attempt by the government of Dubai to take over most of the nation's biggest ports.

        Donors to the library have never been made public, but the New York Times said they include leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Bill Clinton ardently wants his wife to take the job, as indicated by a report from the Washington Post. The Post said the former president is willing to make what it described as "concessions" on disclosure of the money he and his library foundation have collected. The Post said those familiar with the negotiations said Bill Clinton is willing to make public all past and future donors to his foundation, and would clear any speeches he would make with the Obama White House.

        The sources said Bill Cllinton is even willing to tell those who gave anonymously that he is going to make their identities public. However, the same reports said it is unclear that Obama has actually offered Sen. Clinton the job, and that she is also weighing whether or not her influence in foreign affairs might be compromised by other Obama appointees, such as the yet-to-be-named National Security Advisor. Not mentioned, but potentially troubling to the Clintons, is the next vice president, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. He was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and was picked by Obama as his running mate in large part because of his overseas expertise. Biden undoubledly would want to have a voice in setting these policies.

--Douglas Turner

Albany sees a crisis and decides not to act

   The fiscal sky is falling in Albany.

   The state might be out of money before the fiscal year ends next March 31.

   Wall Street credit ratings might downgrade New York's bond offerings, costing far more to borrow.

   Washington might not give us financial help if the state doesn't first try to get its fiscal house in order.

   Local governments and schools are frantic that big aid cuts are coming, which will hit property taxpayers next year with higher levies to make up the difference.

   So, where are Gov. David Paterson and state lawmakers today? About as far as they can get from the Capitol.

   After much hype about the problem, Paterson and the Legislature did not reduce the deficit -- totaling at least $1.5 billion this year -- by even a penny during an emergency session on Tuesday. They could not even agree to pass a partial solution on things on which they agree -- totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

   Yet, there were no visible tears at the Capitol.

   That's because, critics said, the hard choices were delayed, an old Albany solution. Maybe times aren't really as bad as everyone thinks, some believe. Or maybe Paterson's gloom and doom scenario is overstated and that tax revenues will be down, maybe, but not by the cataclysmic proportions the governor has estimated. So goes the wishful hopes of many lawmakers.

   Even many Democratic lawmakers say Paterson, a Democrat, miscalculated things. He sounded
the alarm warnings so high, raising expectations such that to do nothing at the special session would have immediate and severe consequences. And, yet, he tossed in the towel after one day Tuesday instead, some privately argued, of using his position as governor to keep lawmakers around until a deal was found.

   And so, now all eyes look to Dec. 16, when Paterson will unveil his ideas for closing both
the 2008 fiscal year's gap as well as offering up a balanced budget proposal for the 2009
fiscal year -- a task complicated by a combined deficit approaching $15 billion.

   And, before leaving town, lawmakers left a clear message to Paterson: everything will be on
the table. And by everything, they mean things to offset his cutting of popular programs. And
that means tax hikes, fee hikes, assessment hikes, sweeping of funds from off-budget to
general fund budget, and dipping into the state's rainy day fund.

  --Tom Precious

What does the future hold for Sen. Clinton?

  WASHINGTON - Sen.  Hillary Rodham Clinton is fully assuming her role as the state's junior Democratic senator after losing a long and bitter fight for the presidential nomination to Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
     In a conference call with New York journalists on Tuesday, Clinton was constrained to say she fully expects to get along with Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., who will become Obama's White House chief of staff. The issue was prompted by reports that as first lady Clinton tried to have Emanuel fired when he was in President Bill Clinton's White House political office.
   The respected Jackie Calmes of the New York Times has written "in the early months (of 1993), the first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, maneuvered to have Emanuel fired. Clinton's chief of staff, Mack McLarty, instead demoted him from political director to the press office."
    Calmes reported Rahm didn't quit, but took the demotion, lost his big office, and moved into a tiny room at the White House press office and "just went to work." Since leaving the White House, Emanuel was elected to Congress, ran its 2006 Democratic campaign, and was elected chairman of the party's House caucus.
     The New York Daily News reported that Clinton hinted that the Obama transition team has not singled her out for any legislative initiative, such as health care reform. But Clinton has already said she intends to be in the thick of that battle.
      However, the staff of the ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., has been hard at work on health care legislation that they will introduce at the opening of the new Congress in January. Kennedy was a strong supporter of Obama's nomination challenge to the one-time front runner Clinton.
     Media friends of the Clintons', such as Bonnie Erbe, have noted there is still tension between elements of the two Democratic camps, despite the many appearances that Bill and Hillary made in Obama's behalf, because Team Obama hasn't moved to retire what is widely described as a $10 billion Hillary Clinton campaign deficit.
    But it is a $21 million campaign deficit, according to Congressional Quarterly's Moneyline tracking Web site, not $10 million. That's as of Sept. 30. Complicating the campaign help issue is the fact that the senator herself shifted $10 million of her Senate campaign fund into her presidential effort in 2007, and there is still a reported $6 million surplus in her Senate campaign account and she doesn't have to run for the Senate again for four years.
    Friends of the senator have advanced her name as secretary of state, or a Supreme Court justice, if there is an early retirement from the bench after Obama is inaugurated Jan. 20. The State Department balloon hasn't floated very high.  New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who resisted heavy pressure from Bill Clinton and endorsed Obama, is the latest possibility mentioned for the state job.
    What do you think Sen. Clinton should concentrate on? Where can her influence make a difference for Upstate New York? What role do you see for her in the Obama administration?

--Douglas Turner

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The hottest ticket in the nation

   WASHINGTON - Leave it to Americans to turn history into commerce.

   That's just what's happening online these days, as tickets to President-Elect Barack Obama's inauguration are retailing for $1,429 apiece on StubHub … even though the tickets don't even exist yet.

   Should this be happening? That's the question that the top inauguration organizer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and others are asking.

   Feinstein said on Monday that she is planning to ask the EBays of the world to stop selling these tickets, which are supposed to be available for free through congressional offices.

   For now, though, the genius of the markets (or the madness of crowds) is at work again, meaning that a hoped-for, not-yet-printed ticket for Obama's inauguration is worth more than the laptop I'm typing on.

   Which raises the question: how much would you be willing to pay to see the inauguration of the nation's first African-American president?

   --- Jerry Zremski
 

Who should be in Obama's cabinet?

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has picked two leading members of President Bill Clinton's administration to help him make the transition from candidate to chief of state by noon on Jan. 20.

    They are John Podesta, Clinton's chief of staff at the end of Clinton's second term, and Chicago Congressman Rahm Emanuel, who worked in Clinton's political shop. Podesta is heading up the Obama transition. Emanuel today accepted Obama's invitation to become White House chief of staff.

    Emanuel chaired the National Democratic Congressional Campaign and helped win back the House in 2006. Since then he has been House Democratic Conference (caucus) chairman, the third ranking Democratic leader in the House.

   Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the defeated 2004 presidential candidate, is believed to have floated a balloon offering himself as the next secretary of state. It hadn't ascended much by noon Thursday and word was being leaked from Kerry's camp that he wasn't really interested.

   And there is speculation surrounding retired Gen. Colin Powell, former everything. Powell announced for Obama late in the campaign, giving rise to rumors that he would like to join the Obama government.

   Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who campaigned hard for Obama once it became clear that the effort of Republican John McCain was faltering would probably like a high post in the Obama administration. However turning any large agency over to her would be like creating a new Clinton administration in exile.

  Who would you like to see in the administration,  or not like to see there?

  — Douglas Turner

Join the Election Day live chat

      The Buffalo News is hosting a live chat on Election Day, Nov. 4, to discuss the ongoing elections. The polls don't close until 9 p.m., but there's plenty to talk about before the results start coming in.

     This is a history-making election, with either the first African-American president or the first female vice president.  Not only is the White House up for grabs, large Democratic gains are possible in Congress and control of the New York State Senate is also on the line.

     Locally, major races include Lee-Kryzan for Congress; Mesi-Ranzenhofer, Delano-Stachowski and Konst-Volker for State Senate, and LaVallee-Sedita for district attorney.

     Editorial Writer George Pyle kicks off the event at 10 a.m., followed by Senior Washington Correspondent Douglas Turner and then Staff Reporter Patrick Lakamp. Please join us with your comments and questions.