Obama Team Designates Pelosi to Take the Fall for Stimulus Bill

It’s hard to tell what’s happening with the stimulus bill – re-spun as the economic recovery act - this Friday afternoon, but we’re assuming it’s still possible the senate will call for a vote before midnight.

Given the recent photos of Pelosi and Obama showing her obvious infatuation with President Cool as emphasized in yesterday’s gushing assurance, “We’ve got his back,” Jane Hamsher’s declaration at Huffpo this morning is a little startling.

Hamsher writes:

The story of the morning seems to be that the Obama team is unhappy with Nancy Pelosi and the House committee chairs for delivering up such a liberal, pork-laden bill that they themselves really had nothing to do with.

"Anonymous staffers" are fanning out to fuel the fiction that "during the transition Summers, his deputy Jason Furman, and the White House's top Congressional liason, Phil Schiliro, laid out the broad principles they wanted the bill to adhere to, but when it came to actual content, they deferred to the chairmen."

Hamsher goes on to say:

Except that it's not true. The Obama transition team has been working on the substance of the bill from day one. Their first step was to go to the Association of Mayors, the National Governors' Associations and other non-congressional groups and say "give us all your shovel-ready projects." That and other provisions written by the Obama team became the spine of the bill. It went through only three committee markups, and moved through the House at lightening speed in a way that made many House chairs unhappy, with the notable exception of Dave Obey (now also under attack) who helped push it through quickly.

The House bill is notable not only for its size but also because it had no earmarks, which are the lifeblood of House members, the way they show their constituents what they're doing for them. As one person knowledgable about the writing of the bill says, "if you're in the House why would you write a bill without earmarks unless you didn't write the bill?"

Hamsher gets to the really mean part here:

But with public opinion quickly turning against the bill, and the House Republicans claiming the moral high ground as they held formation to oppose him, how could Obama be distanced from responsibility for elements of the bill under GOP attack and remain above the fray? That seemed to be the locus of White House concern, and according to those familiar with what happened, the "polarizing" Nancy Pelosi was designated to take the fall.

Read more:

Sniffing Out Contacts Between Obama’s Transition Team and Blagojevich

Politico’s Vogel and Martin reported the other day on President-elect Obama’s pledge to conduct an internal investigation of possible contacts between his transition team and Illinois Gov. Blagojevich regarding the governor’s attempt to sell Obama’s senate seat for personal gain.

Vogel and Martin write:

‘“He was elected president on a promise of ‘transparency’ but barely five weeks later, Barack Obama is scrambling to meet his first big test on openness.

“Obama's campaign lawyer Bob Bauer is taking a leading role in conducting what one top aide described as "an internal review" stopping short of a full-blown investigation.

“The goal is simple and urgent: find who talked with disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and when - and precisely what they said.

“But it's also loaded with hazards. They need to make sure they meet Obama's vow to release findings "in a few days." More importantly, they need to make sure they don't miss something that could come back to bite them later.

“In trying to meet the first rule of Washington scandal-management – get the facts out on your own terms, and fast – Obama may have promised something he’ll later regret, one expert warned.

‘“What they’re doing is either setting themselves up for inconsistencies, or creating a cache of evidence that otherwise wouldn’t exist. It never helps when you dig up the dirt in your own yard and you find stuff,’ said Stan Brand, a top Washington defense lawyer.”’

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NY Times: Clinton Accepts Secretary of State Position

Photo credits: AP/Susan Walsh

Peter Baker at the NY Times reports:

“WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.

“The apparent accord between perhaps the two leading figures in the Democratic Party climaxed a week-long drama that riveted the nation’s capital.

“Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation.

‘“Mr. Obama’s office told reporters on Thursday that the nomination is ‘on track’ but this is the first word from the Clinton camp that she has decided.

‘“She’s ready,’ the confidant said, adding that Mrs. Clinton was reassured after talking again with Mr. Obama because their first meeting in Chicago last week ‘was so general.’ The purpose of the follow-up talk, he noted, was not to extract particular concessions but ‘just getting comfortable’ with the idea of working together.

“A second Clinton associate confirmed that her camp believes they have a done deal. Senior Obama advisers said Friday morning that the offer had not been formally accepted and no announcement would be made until after Thanksgiving. But they said they were convinced that the nascent alliance was ready to be sealed.”
Read more.

The Obama Administration’s Ties to the Clinton Era Multiply

The NY Times’ Peter Baker wasn’t kidding the other day when he suggested the Obama Administration was looking like a third term for Bill Clinton.

In today’s Washington Post, staffwriters Kornblut and Abramowitz listed the officials the Obama Administration picked to guide the transition process. Using the “Find” feature on my browser, I quickly counted at least ten appearances of the word “Clinton.”

The Post article reports that former Clinton officials will lead the departments of Treasury, State, and Defense.

Joshua Gottbaum and Michael J. Warren, both from the Clinton White House will oversee the Treasury Department transition.

The State Department transition team will be headed by Thomas E. Donilon and Wendy R. Sherman, also from the former Clinton Administration.

Former Clinton officials John P. White and Michèle A. Flournoy will lead the Defense Department transition team.

The Post article also lists the Obama transition team’s co-chairs and working group members that include several additional former Clinton officials.

For a guy who had nothing good to say about the Clinton Administration in his soaring campaign rhetoric, Obama is certainly drawing heavily on former Clinton officials.

For more detail, go here.