Friday, February 06, 2009
Love ‘im or hate ‘im, you got to give our 44th president this: He keeps us on our toes. This week, Obama’s main focus was on the stimulus plan that he’s been urgently pressing for agreement on from the Senate.
In last week’s FPU, I cautioned that it was going to be a long week for lawmakers, and sure enough, they’ve been haggling over it ever since. Each day passed with some news on the Senate’s progress - or lack thereof - and the president’s reaction to it. Of course though, there was plenty of other issues that captivated public attention along the way.
Here’s the recap:
Monday, February 2, 2009
Monday opened up with a bang of course, as the Senate rang in the new month by reviewing the stimulus package presented to them. But that wasn’t the news that caught everybody’s attention since Tom Daschle was still trying to fight for his Cabinet seat as health secretary at that point.
President Obama stood by Daschle, saying that he was “absolutely” sticking by his nominee. Press secretary Robert Gibbs added his two cents in, reminding the public that “Nobody’s perfect.”
Despite the outcry from many citizens for Daschle’s failure to pay over $120,000 in taxes, which the offending party apologized for as a “mistake,” nobody was at all certain that the nomination wouldn’t go through.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Saying that he had “screwed up,” President Obama changed his mind about both Daschle and another appointee who had failed to pay all of their taxes.
“I’ve got to own up to my mistake,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s important for this administration to send a message that there aren’t two sets of rules - you know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes.”
Technically, he told NBC’s nightly news with Brian Williams that on Monday night, well after the bell closed, so the news didn’t spread far and wide until the following morning.
And Tuesday wasn’t over by a long shot, as Obama found opposition to his stimulus bill first not from Republicans as expected, but from Europe, who largely gave him high marks during his presidential campaign and hailed his inauguration as the dawning of a new era. Yet the E.U. changed their tune somewhat when they heard about what has been widely hailed as an American Only clause.
The clause inside the stimulus bill resolves that any goods being purchased with stimulus money could only be bought from American providers. Many investors and economists, Mt.
