Just attended a U.S Mayors’ Conference reception at the White House. It was very crowded and I only had about 5-10 seconds of President Obama’s attention. Knowing that he’s a basketball player in his spare time, I asked him to give one bit of advice to the Dublin High basketball team that I help coach. The President said to tell our guys to “Play defense. As long as they play good defense everything else on the court will take care of itself.” Excellent advice for the Gaels directly from the leader of the free world.
President Barack Obama will visit the Bay Area next month, a White House official said this morning.
The President is expected to visit Seattle before coming to the Bay Area on Sunday, Sept. 25. He’ll then visit the San Diego area and the Los Angeles area on Monday, Sept. 26, and the Denver area on Tuesday, Sept. 27, before returning to Washington, D.C. Specific events have not yet been announced.
The President was last in the Bay Area in April for one, two, three fundraisers in San Francisco.
“The Senate has lost a giant and America has lost a real fighter for our working families.
“Robert Byrd’s eloquence during his amazing tenure in the Senate will forever be a testament to his deep reverence for the Constitution and the importance of preserving the American dream, which he lived.
“I will always be grateful for Senator Byrd’s strong support for California – especially when our state was suffering through natural disasters – as well as his deep conviction to bring our troops home from Iraq.”
“This is a very sad day. Robert C. Byrd was one of the true legends of United States political history and his passing is an enormous loss. I offer my heartfelt condolences to his two daughters, Mona Fatemi and Marjorie Moore; to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and to the people of West Virginia.
“Senator Byrd represented the State of West Virginia in the United States Senate for 51 years, and also served six years in the House of Representatives. He very much loved the Senate, and was its longest serving member. His scholarly insights on the Senate’s history, customs and sometimes intricate rules were second to none. And he was a staunch defender of the prerogatives of the three equal branches of government. Senator Byrd, like the nation he represented, changed and evolved over the nine decades of his lifetime.
“Senator Byrd was well-known for his booming, fiery speeches on the floor of the Senate, but he was also a sensitive man who cherished his friends and colleagues, especially the late Ted Kennedy. He was also fond of classical history and poetry, and frequently interspersed his remarks with passages of ancient political philosophers or poetic verse.
“I shall perhaps remember Senator Byrd best for his ardent devotion to and consummate knowledge of the Constitution of the United States. I also had the privilege of serving with him on the Senate Appropriations Committee for many years.
“This nation owes Senator Byrd a great debt of gratitude for his tremendous service. I know that I will very much miss his indomitable spirit, insightful guidance, and intense commitment to the Senate.”
The Bay Area Congressional delegation’s two biggest doves said today that President Barack Obama’s dismissal of Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan (following the general’s and his aides’ critical remarks about the Administration in Rolling Stone) should be only the start.
“What is needed in Afghanistan is a change of policy not just a change of commanders,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-chair Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, said in a news release. “The real message of the Rolling Stone article is that the Afghan war is an unwinnable mess. It is time to start withdrawing from Afghanistan not surging deeper into a futile conflict that is already the longest war in U.S. history.”
“The President is correct – this war is bigger than any one person. Our focus should be on our strategy to bring an end to this war,” said Lee, who you’ll recall was the lone vote in Congress against the 2001 resolution authorizing the Bush Administration’s use of force against al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
“Open-ended war in Afghanistan is not in our national security interest and continues to create enemies. We must fundamentally rethink our policy on Afghanistan and reorient our efforts to combat terrorism around the globe in a more effective and sustainable manner,” she said in a news release today. “We need to stop digging the hole and risking the lives of our brave young men and women. We need a clear exit strategy and a timeline to safely redeploy our troops from Afghanistan.”
UPDATE @ 10:50 A.M. MONDAY 6/28: A clarification – Lee issued her statement speaking for herself, not on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus she chairs.
State Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) in California and four other states can start using $1.5 billion in “Hardest Hit Fund” foreclosure-prevention funding under plans approved by the Obama Administration, the Treasury Department announced this morning.
President Obama established the fund in February to provide targeted aid to families in the states hit hardest by the housing downturn. The states approved to receive aid today as part of the first round of funding each experienced a 20 percent or greater decline in average housing prices.
Each state HFA gathered public input and created Hardest Hit Fund programs designed to meet their own states’ unique challenges. The plans were submitted to the Treasury Department in April, and the approved states can now set up and roll out their programs.
California’s share is $699.6 million, with which the state will implement its plan:
Unemployment Mortgage Assistance (UMA) – Intended to help homeowners who have lost their jobs. CalHFA will provide a temporary mortgage payment subsidy of varying size and term to unemployed homeowners who wish to remain in their homes but are in imminent danger of foreclosure due to short-term financial problems. These funds could provide up to six months of benefits with a monthly benefit of up to $1,500 or 50% of the existing total monthly mortgage, whichever is less.
Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program (MRAP) – Intended to help homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments. CalHFA will provide limited money to reinstate mortgage loans that are in arrears in order to prevent potential foreclosures – up to $15,000 per household or 50 percent of the past due amount, whichever is less, with a required dollar-for-dollar contribution match from the lender, servicer, insurer and/or borrower.
Principal Reduction Program (PRP) – Intended to help homeowners who have severe negative equity – or are “underwater,” in the common slang. CalHFA will put up money, matched by participating financial institutions, to reduce outstanding principal balances of qualifying underwater borrowers. Principal balances will be reduced to market levels needed to prevent avoidable foreclosures and promote sustainable homeownership. The principal reduction program should most likely be a prelude to loan modification.
Transition Assistance Program (TAP) – Intended to help stabilize communiteis by giving homeowners help in relocating when it’s determined that they can no longer afford their home. CalHFA’s transition assistance will be used along with servicer/investor short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure programs to help borrowers transition into stable and affordable housing elsewhere. Borrowers will be responsible to occupy and maintain the property until the home is sold or returned to the lender as negotiated. Funds will be available on a one-time only basis.
House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Martinez, issued a news release praising the funding.
“Every family in our community has felt the effects of this severe economic recession and the problems in California’s housing market,” he said. “People have lost their jobs and their homes through no fault of their own. This new federal program is intended to help homeowners in our state and to help stabilize our economy.
“Of course there is more to do, and we’re continuing our work in Congress to save and create good American jobs to turn the economy around and get people back on their feet. In the end, the best way to help avoid foreclosure is to get more Americans back to work. We’re making progress in that direction but that remains our top priority.”
The other states cleared for funding today were Arizona, Nevada, Michigan and Florida.
I’m curious to know what people thought about the speech, particularly given today’s breaking news that BP has tentatively agreed to create a $20 billion fund to pay claims, to be independently administered by the same mediator who oversaw the 9/11 victims compensation fund.
What else would you have liked to hear the President say, or see him do?
President Barack Obama is “diminishing” the U.S. presidency through his rhetoric against Republicans, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) charged Wednesday.
Boehner ripped a speech by the president in Pittsburgh this afternoon in which Obama spoke against the GOP’s economic policies, arguing they would only benefit monied and powerful interests.
“The president diminishes the Office of the President when he resorts to straw man arguments that willfully mischaracterize the views of others,” Boehner shot back this afternoon. “All of the president’s talk of post-partisanship, reaching out and finding common ground reminds us that the country deserves better than his hyper-partisan speech today.”
Obama sought in remarks at Carnegie Mellon University to portray the midterm elections as a choice between old, Republican ideas and a future led by his economic policies.
“As November approaches, leaders in the other party will campaign furiously on the same economic argument they’ve been making for decades,” he said. “Fortunately, we don’t have to look back too many years to see how it turns out. For much of the last ten years, we tried it their way.”
This was, however, the fifth e-mail that Boehner’s office has sent me today, all of them mounting attacks on the President and his policies: two preemptively pooh-poohing the soon-to-arrive May employment figures, which the GOP notes will be “spiked” with temporary hiring of census workers; two offering comments (Boehner’s and an economics professor’s) on the President’s speech, and this one.
That’s par for the course: Boehner’s office, the Republican National Committee and other party organs churn out release after release – “ICYMI’s” (in case you missed it), “GOP Leader Alerts,” “RNC Research Briefings” and so on – every single day attacking the President and his policies. (I got one of those “RNC Research Briefings today, too.)
That’s fine – I read ‘em all and save most of ‘em – but spare me the hypocritical crocodile tears when the President talks back. It’s like the playground bully who goes crying to the teacher when somebody finally clocks him.
KRON-TV reported today that union construction workers had been told to stay home today, losing a day’s pay, due to President Barack Obama’s visit to Fremont-based Solyndra Inc.’s not-yet-completed manufacturing plant.
The Republican National Committee and Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee jumped all over it — “Obama should be more focused on helping Californians get back to work, instead of keeping them from it,” said RNC spokesman Jahan Wilcox — but company spokesman David Miller says that’s not exactly what happened.
“After a tour of Solyndra’s Fab 1, President Obama met with union construction workers before his speech, photos of which can been seen on line from various news sources. Some of these construction workers shared compliments with Solyndra executives on being able to participate in the event. Further, in preparation for President Obama’s visit, there was significant overtime paid to construction workers.
“Due to President Obama’s visit and security for the event that was held, for several hours the construction work on the site was put on hold. Today, immediately after the event was over, construction work resumed. The workers are not losing a day of pay; rather the day will be made up down the road. The construction work that was put on hold during this shift still needs to get done. This is the same as what happens with a weather-related ‘rain-day’ construction site shut down.
“Please note the workers affected today work were subcontractors for Rudolph and Sletten, not employees of Solyndra.
“Finally, Solyndra hopes to build the second phase of its Fab 2 project, and is looking forward to enabling additional construction jobs for this project.”
Miller also noted that the $535 million loan guarantee that Solyndra received from the Energy Department under the Recovery Act to build this new factory has created 3,000 construction jobs, and the project has been running at least two shifts a day, six days a week since the groundbreaking last September, paying out more than $90 million in union wages.
I did see some Rudolph and Sletten workers wearing hard-hats at the speech, but there wasn’t room in the secured area to accomodate hundreds more.
Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, didn’t accompany President Barack Obama to a Recovery Act-supported solar panel manufacturing plant in his district today because he was stuck on Capitol Hill amid a steady flow of bills this week.
But he weighed in this afternoon on what the President did and didn’t say about making clean energy a centerpiece of the region’s and the nation’s economic rebound. Although the president spoke about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as an indicator of the nation’s need to wean itself from fossil fuels, Stark noted he didn’t speak about one important facet of that.
“My sense is that what he’s got to deal with is coal. ‘Clean coal’ is an oxymoron, there is no such thing,” Stark said. “I think the tradeoff is nuclear. If we can find a reasonable storage disposal for the waste, then I think we have to become like other industrialized nations, a nuclear nation, and get rid of coal.”
“That’s a major, major change for this country, but I don’t see an alternative,” Stark continued. “He (Obama) doesn’t want to step on any toes, but I don’t think you can do the things he wants to do unless you take a stand. That would be my criticism of the current administration… We’re not moving forward.”
Stark today introduced a Defense Authorization Act amendment that would strike the additional $362 million that a House committee added onto the $9.9 billion that the Pentagon is seeking for a missile-defense system.
“I’d strike the entire thing if I could,” he said. “I think were spending too much on defense, anyway.”
“For years this missile defense thing I think has been a boondoggle, it’s a thing that doesn’t work. They’ve fussed with it at the Lawrence (Livermore National) Lab and it’s just a dream – they can do some stuff short range, but they just can’t hit anything.”
He acknowledged his amendment could have a tough political hill to climb. “The concept here, among conservatives in particular, is that they will fuss over anything we want to spend for Medicare or education or cleaning up the environment – all of that is wasteful – but the minute you mention the military, oh that’s patriotic and antiterrorism.”
This $362 million is money the nation “could spend on a lot of other things, hopefully not war-related,” he said. “Hopefully this will take a direct point at that, hopefully we’ll get enough progressive votes to make a difference.”
I’ve filed my article on the President’s speech this morning at Solyndra Inc. in Fremont, and I’ll be adding to it shortly. But if you’d like to read it exactly as it was said, take a gander after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »
This was, however, the fifth e-mail that Boehner’s office has sent me today, all of them mounting attacks on the President and his policies: two preemptively pooh-poohing the soon-to-arrive May employment figures, which the GOP notes will be “spiked” with temporary hiring of census workers; two offering comments (Boehner’s and an economics professor’s) on the President’s speech, and this one.