White House advisers promise sharper focus on jobs
In this Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010, photo provided by Fox News Sunday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs speaks on Fox News Sunday at their studio in Washington. Gibbs said Obama presidential campaign manager David Plouffe is returning to a greater role in the administration primarily to deal with this year's midterm elections for Congress and state governors. (AP Photo/Fox News Sunday, Freddie Lee)
|
WASHINGTON—A politically shaken White House promised Sunday a sharper focus on jobs and the economy, but key advisers were less sure-footed on health care reform. They took a wait-and-see approach as the dust settles from the punishing loss of the late Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat.
President Barack Obama's poll numbers are off -- primarily because of the slow economic recovery and double-digit unemployment. And a majority of Americans also have turned against health care reform, the president's signature legislative effort that was likely killed with Scott Brown's stunning upset in the special election in Massachusetts.
"The president has always gotten the message," top Obama adviser David Axelrod said. "The message is, we need to grow this economy in a way that allows hardworking people who are meeting their responsibilities to get ahead instead of falling behind."
Axelrod said Americans would learn more about White House plans for the economy on Wednesday when the president delivers his first State of the Union address. The adviser offered no specifics; there has been talk of a second economic stimulus package, one totaling around $175 billion.
On health care, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said discussions were under way to see whether Democrats can take some kind of action in Congress. Valerie Jarrett, another top adviser, said Obama had spoken to congressional leaders over the weekend "to try to see what the climate is, what's the art of the possible."
Indications are that independent voters, key to Obama's 2008 victory over Sen. John McCain, may move heavily to Republicans in November midterm elections for Congress and governors.
Looking to prevent future surprises like Brown's Senate victory and to block the feared Republican surge in November, Obama has brought back to the White House his adviser David Plouffe, the political mastermind of Obama's against-the-odds presidential victory.
"He will help supplement an already good political staff ... in helping us watch the 2010 elections, the gubernatorial, the Senate and the House elections," Gibbs said. Both Gibbs and Axelrod said there was no White House shake-up in the works.
Having watched Obama suffer through one of the cruelest political weeks of his first year in the White House, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had no plans to give the president any help or breathing room. He said the only hope for health care was to "stop and start over and go step by step to fix the cost problem."
More largely, McConnell said Obama needs to move to the political center. "I think he'll find a lot more Republican support than he's had in the first year," the senator said.
With health care languishing, Obama was likely as well to run into heavy Republican opposition as he turns up the verbal heat on America's big banks and financial institutions, calling for legislation that would clamp off moves to grow even larger. He has spoken of federal fees on transactions by those banks that have taken government assistance and are once again showing massive profits and paying outsized bonuses.
Obama is moving in that direction even as opposition grows in the Senate to his nomination of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to a second term. Officials in the White House and Senate, however, predicted that Bernanke would be confirmed for a new four-year term.
Gibbs said Bernanke was needed to ensure stability in the financial system and warned lawmakers against "playing politics in any way" that would send a negative message to financial markets.
Jarrett said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had assured Obama that Bernanke had strong support among Democrats, and McConnell said he anticipated bipartisan confirmation, although he would not say how he planned to vote.
Bernanke, appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, is widely credited with helping to prevent the recession from turning into a depression. But his support of Wall Street bailouts has angered the public.
Obama called Senate allies on Saturday to make his case for Bernanke, whose term ends Jan. 31. The Senate is scheduled to vote on Bernanke by week's end.
Gibbs spoke on "Fox News Sunday" while Axelrod appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" and ABC's "This Week." Jarrett and McConnell spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press."
April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008