Apparently Americans United for Change is now running an ad pressing Arlen Specter to vote for the bailout in Pennsylvania (via TPM, as usual). Its worth a listen – the ad plays the Limbaugh “I hope he fails” soundbite and frames the party-line House vote as Republicans voting against job creation. That’s obviously an over-simplification, but the House Republican response also strikes me as disingenuous (to the extent that response is “No more tax cuts? What happened to bipartisanship?”).
Specter is getting a fair bit of attention as the bill moves to the Senate, although this seems in part to be motivated by speculations that Senate Republicans may filibuster the bailout. This seems fairly unlikely to me, for the simple reason that a “no” vote against a bill that is certain to pass anyway comes at little present cost to a Congressperson, with the potential for substantial gain if the recession continues to the midterm elections. It’s a gamble, but one where it’s cheap to buy in. A filibuster would attract considerably more media attention than even the vote yesterday, and any of the 40 Senate Republicans who feels even a little vulnerable probably wouldn’t have the temerity. But more than that, I doubt that a Senator like John McCain, who isn’t fearing for his Senate seat, would care to create the spectacle of a filibuster when a simple “no” vote would get the point across.
Obviously there have been a lot of changes during the first week of the Obama presidency, but here’s one that you might have noticed. WhiteHouse.gov has started to turn into a user-friendly website with some interesting content. Blog posts instead of press releases! It’s mad, I tell you.
Here’s my favorite bit so far:
For incoming White House staff, the past few days have been a singularly thrilling — and learning — experience. Wide-eyed staffers roam the halls of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with thick stacks of HR paperwork in hand, new phone numbers are being memorized — and the line for coffee and club sandwiches is starting to grow as word spreads about the White House Mess. It’s safe to say that working at the White House isn’t something anyone can prepare for, but the career staff continue to work tirelessly to make the first few days as smooth as possible.
How adorable is the mental image of a staffer scuttling about with an arm full of poorly-sorted paper, oggling the hallways? I’m sure I’m being played a little bit here, and the incoming staff are more savvy than awestruck. But I like the idea that the office, indeed the very building, might mean something to these people. Even if they aren’t really agog.
President Barack Obama will direct federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile emissions and fuel efficiency standards, two administration officials said Sunday evening.
Apparently Russ Feingold (D-WI) plans to introduce a constitutional amendment to end Senate appointments, in light of the gubernatorial bungling of the past three weeks. This has me considerably excited because I really like constitutional amendments. This is partly for the stock “living document” enduring values reasons, but also partly because the particular history of the amendments we have (and haven’t) made is ridiculous.
Less than 24 hours in office and already I think it’s safe to say Obama is a better president than his predecessor. Via TPM I learn that Obama ordered Guantanamo prosecutors to seek a 120-day halt in pending war crimes trials. Now that’s not rescuing the American dream (or for that matter, even as good as ordering a more permanent cessation), but it’s a good start for day one. It also got me thinking, what did Bush do on his first day of office?
Apparently, Chief of Staff Andrew Card wrote a memo to the heads of various agencies ordering them to “put on hold dozens of regulations passed by the Clinton administration.” These included “lowering arsenic levels in drinking water; reducing the release of raw sewage into rivers and streams; setting limits on logging, drilling, and mining on public lands; increasing energy efficiency standards; and banning snowmobiles from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.” This fuller account of the arsenic regulations explains that public outcry led the EPA to form new expert panels that “reached conclusions supporting an even more stringent standard” than the one Clinton had proposed (and the Bush administration sought to roll back). So less than a day in office and a Bush appointee was already trying to undermine regulations that administrative procedures proved to be justified. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that suspending prosecutions at Guantanamo won’t look as bad in retrospect.