Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Sebelius confirmed to lead Health and Human Services

Well, since we're in the middle of a swine flu outbreak, I guess now would be a nice time to have a Health and Human Services director...

The timely vote will put Sebelius in office as the Obama administration is up against its first public health outbreak.

She steps into the role as swine flu numbers climb worldwide. As of Tuesday morning, at least 90 cases had been confirmed, including 50 in the United States.

Read more at CNN.com.

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Sunday, March 1, 2009

Gates says Obama more ‘analytical’ than Bush

President Obama is more analytical than his predecessor, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday.

Gates, the only Cabinet holdover from the Bush administration, initially paused when asked what the difference is between working with President Obama and President Bush.

'President Obama is somewhat more analytical, and he makes sure he hears from everybody in the room on an issue. And if they don't speak up, he calls on them,' Gates said on NBC's Meet the Press.

'President Bush was interested in hearing different points of view but didn't go out of his way to make sure everybody spoke if they hadn't spoken up before,' he added.


More from CNN's Political Ticker.

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Monday, February 23, 2009

Third time's the charm

President Barack Obama's pick for commerce secretary is likely to be former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, two administration sources told CNN Monday.


More on CNN.com.

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

Wondering if someone might call him up and ask him to be Commerce Secretary






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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Daschle update

I just find this all upsetting. I mean I want folks who are held to a high standard and I wish Tom had held himself to a higher standard, but really, how many people are we going to lose over taxes?
"Andrea Mitchell of NBC News said she had just spoken to Daschle, who told her, 'I read the New York Times this morning and I realized that I can't pass health care if I am too much of a distraction ... I called the president this morning.' Mitchell described the call as emotional, and said Daschle was near tears."

Read more on HuffPo.


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Daschle withdraws.

Damn. Tom Daschle asked Obama to withdraw his nomination for Health and Human Services Secretary. Can I just ask someone to look at the tax returns EVERY Republican in Congress and see if THEY'VE paid taxes on every damn thing they've gotten??


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Thursday, January 22, 2009

The West Wing

For many of us, discussion of any of Obama's new senior staff members engenders only one question: "Who was that on 'The West Wing'?"

Well, wonder no more. The UK Guardian has published this helpful guide.

(By the way, don't forget that Obama was the model for Jimmy Smits' character Matt Santos.)

White House layout. To go with piece 22/1/09

The layout of the White House under the Obama administration.

1. President

Barack Obama. In the West Wing: Jed Bartlett

2. Personal secretary to the president

Katie Johnson. In The West Wing: Dolores Landingham

Johnson, 27, part of the team of 20-somethings accompanying Obama from the Chicago campaign office to the White House, will maintain the president's daily schedule. The personal secretary is typically a low-profile job - or was until Clinton's, Betty Currie, was called as a witness in the Monica Lewinsky affair. She will sit at a desk just outside the Oval Office, next to Reggie Love.

3. Personal aide to the president

Reggie Love. In The West Wing: Charlie Young

Love, 26, the handsome young "body man" to Obama during the campaign, will be at the president's side for much of the day. He will keep the president in snacks, chewing gum and drinks, and tend to his personal needs from a desk in a small office beside the Oval one. A former Duke University basketball player, Love introduced the president to the fist-bump and the rapper Jay-Z.

4. Press secretary

Robert Gibbs. In The West Wing: CJ Cregg

Gibbs, 37, a travelling companion to the president during the campaign, will be the man behind the podium at news conferences. Aside from Obama's, his is the public face of the administration. Gibbs was a top strategist during the campaign, and is said to be close to Obama - a plus for reporters seeking better access to the president's thinking and deliberations

5. Communications director

Ellen Moran. In The West Wing: Toby Ziegler

Moran, 42, is former executive director of Emily's List, an abortion-rights advocacy group that incidentally endorsed Hillary Clinton during the primary campaign. She also worked for the AFL-CIO, a coordinated advertising efforts for the Democratic National Committee in 2004. She will occupy tiny office, barely the size of a broom closet, but one on the first floor of the west wing.

6. Deputy communications director

Dan Pfeiffer. In The West Wing: Sam Seaborn

Pfeiffer, 33, was a travelling press secretary and communications director for the presidential campaign, and is married to Sarah Feinberg, a top aide to Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. He also will sit in a tiny office beside his boss Moran. He previously worked for several Democratic senators, and Al Gore's 2000 campaign for president.

7. Deputy national security adviser

Thomas E Donilon. In The West Wing: Kate Harper

Donilon is a governing partner of O'Melveny & Myers, a giant international law firm. He was a state department aide under Clinton, and was involved in Bosnia and Middle East peace negotiation, Nato expansion, and US-China relations. He will occupy a cubbyhole on the first floor of the west wing, in the opposite corner from the Oval Office.

8. National security adviser

James Jones. In The West Wing: Nancy McNally

Jones, 65, a retired marine corps general, will brief Obama daily on intelligence reports deemed vital to national security (a key paper that went overlooked was entitled "Bin Ladin [sic] determined to strike in US"). In times of crisis he will operate from the White House situation room. He will occupy a large corner office down the hall from Rahm Emanuel.

9. Vice-president

Joseph Biden

10 and 11. Deputy chiefs of staff

Mona Sutphen and Jim Messina. In The West Wing: Josh Lyman

Sutphen, 41, is a former foreign service officer who worked on the National Security Council under Clinton, at the US mission to the United Nations, and at the embassy in Bangkok. Messina, 39, was chief of staff to the presidential campaign, and was a top aide to two Democratic senators and a congresswoman. The two will occupy tiny, windowless offices in the middle of the Oval Office's first floor.

12. Senior adviser

David Axelrod

The man credited with shaping the media message that helped put Obama in the White House is following him there. David Axelrod, 53, a former political reporter and Chicago political consultant, was Obama's chief strategist during the campaign and also led his 2004 senate campaign. He is a trusted political adviser and will occupy a tiny office next to the president's private study.

13. Senior adviser

Pete Rouse

Rouse, 62, another in Obama's close coterie of "senior advisers", was chief of staff in Obama's senate office. Before that he was a top aide to Democratic senators Tom Daschle of South Dakota and other Democratic politicians. He is one of the small group of advisers who helped Obama through the decision to run for president. He will occupy an office next to Axelrod.

14. White House chief of staff

Rahm Emanuel. In The West Wing: Leo McGarry

Emanuel, 49.a former political aide to Bill Clinton, Illinois congressman and investment banker, takes the job described as "chief javelin catcher" in the White House. He will maintain a gruelling work schedule, tasked with briefing the president, managing the White House staff, and acting as gate keeper to the information and people that reach the Oval Office. He will occupy a large corner office down the hall from the Oval Office.

White House counsel

Greg Craig, 64, a former aide to Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy, will be the lawyer to the president, advising Obama on legal prerogatives and authority. As a civil and criminal attorney, Craig has had a hand in some of the most important national affairs in recent decades. He represented the father of Elian Gonzalez, the refugee child who was repatriated to Cuba over demands he stay in the US.

Director of the White House military office

Louis Caldera, 52, will run the White House military office, which handles the day-to-day operations of the White House - keeping its occupants fed and medically sound. In past administrations has been charged with handling the "nuclear football", the briefcase of nuclear launch codes. Caldera was secretary of the army under Bill Clinton, and is former president of the University of New Mexico.

White House social secretary

Desiree Rogers, 49,is a New Orleans native and former insurance executive. She is a long-time Chicago friend to the Obamas. She will be responsible for planning galas and state dinners at which Obama will host heads of state, governors, the world's cultural elite, and other VIPs. It is a enormous task - in one year alone, the Clinton White House threw 400 events.

Director of scheduling and advice

Alyssa Mastromonaco, 32, was responsible for scheduling virtually every minute of Obama's time during the presidential campaign. Her role in the White House will be even more complex, as organisations like the secret service and speech writing offices will have a say in the president's day-to-day activities. She will oversee a staff of about 35 that will include a "diarist" to record the president's moves.

Senior adviser

Valerie Jarrett, 52, is senior adviser and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison. A real estate executive, lawyer and former Chicago city hall aide, Jarrett is a close confidante of Obama - he celebrated her birthday in Chicago in the days after the election. Jarrett occupies the second-floor office once used by Hillary Clinton when she was first lady.

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Hillary Clinton Confirmed As Secretary Of State

Hillary Clinton Confirmed As Secretary Of State: "The Senate has confirmed Hillary Rodham Clinton to become secretary of state. The Senate vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the former first lady despite lingering concerns by some Republicans that her husband's charitable fundraising overseas could pose a conflict of interest.

Republicans and Democrat alike say her swift confirmation was necessary so that President Barack Obama could begin tackling the major foreign policy issues at hand, including two wars, increased violence in the Middle East and the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Immediately after the vote, Clinton was to be sworn in during a private ceremony at the Capitol."

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Monday, January 5, 2009

Panetta Chosen as C.I.A. Chief in Surprise Step - NYTimes.com

Really? Leon Panetta? Are they just discombobulated from the Bill Richardson withdrawal?

Leon E. Panetta, a former congressman and White House chief of staff, has been selected by President-elect Barack Obama to head the Central Intelligence Agency. The choice, disclosed Monday by Democratic officials, immediately revealed divisions in the party as two senior lawmakers questioned why Mr. Obama would nominate a candidate with limited experience in intelligence matters.

The job was the last unfilled major post for Mr. Obama, who has criticized the agency for using interrogation methods he characterized as torture. Democratic officials said Mr. Obama had selected Mr. Panetta for his managerial skills, his bipartisan standing, and the foreign policy and budget experience he gained under President Bill Clinton.

Mr. Panetta has himself been a sharp critic of the agency’s interrogation practices. Some Democrats expressed strong support for the choice, with Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader, describing him as “one of the finest public servants I have ever served with and dealt with since he left the White House.”



More in the NY Times.




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Thursday, December 18, 2008

Cabinet Scorecard

Almost complete. Electoral-vote.com lists the score on Obama Cabinet Appointments and the colleges and universities they went to. The list so far includes:

Attorney General: Eric Holder
Secretary of Agriculture: former Gov. Tom Vilsack
Secretary of Commerce: Gov. Bill Richardson
Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates
Secretary of Education: Arne Duncan
Secretary of Energy: Steven Chu
Secretary of Health and Human Services: former Sen. Tom Daschle
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Shaun Donovan
Secretary of Homeland Security: Gov. Janet Napolitano
Secretary of the Interior: Sen. Ken Salazar
Secretary of Labor: ?
Secretary of State: Sen. Hillary Clinton
Secretary of Transportation: Rep. Ray LaHood
Secretary of the Treasury: Timothy Geithner
Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Gen. Eric Shinseki



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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Obama Names Picks for Agriculture and Interior - NYTimes.com

Obama Names Picks for Agriculture and Interior: "President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday named Tom Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa, as his choice for agriculture secretary and Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado to head the Interior Department, nearly completing his cabinet with the addition of two men who, like others named earlier this week, will have heavy responsibilities for energy and the environment."


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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Daschle for Health and Human Services

Tom Daschle To Also Oversee New White House Office Of Health Reform:
"'If we want to overcome our economic challenges, we must also finally address our health care challenge. I can think of no one better suited to lead this effort,' Obama said of Daschle.

Daschle's selection as secretary of Health and Human Services has been known for some time, but Obama made it official in a news conference. He said Daschle also will oversee a new White House Office of Health Reform."


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Monday, December 1, 2008

Obama's National Security Team







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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Which Foreign Policy appointments really matter?

Spencer Ackerman of Washington Independent has a offbeat look at the foreign policy posts where actual stuff is accomplished:
But all the focus on who will sit in Obama’s cabinet overlooks a basic fact of governance. Much, if not most, of the actual substance of policy — from its detailed conception to its experimentation to its implementation — doesn’t come from the heads of the federal agencies. It comes from deep in their guts."
This is particularly true for national security and foreign policy. When it comes to managing foreign relations and securing the country, the middle-to-upper-middle tiers of the Departments of State, Defense and Justice, along with the National Security Council staff and the intelligence community, are often critical posts. Those positions are policy laboratories and career boosters, offices where policy is refined and offices where policy gets killed by poor implementation or bureaucratic machination. As one Democratic foreign-policy expert recently put it, “These are your foreign-policy change agents.”

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An interesting thought

Hmmmm... a peculiar, yet interesting suggestion from WaPo:
"Amid the blizzard of resumes blanketing Washington as the Obama era dawns, there is a superbly qualified candidate for full employment whose name has been overlooked. We refer, of course, to William Jefferson Clinton, America's 42nd chief executive and commander in chief. Yet now, by a wonderful combination of circumstances, comes an opportunity to harness his unquestioned political talents to benefit his country, the Democratic Party, New York state and his spouse. If, as is expected, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state, New York Gov. David Paterson could send her husband to the U.S. Senate."
Who better than Bill Clinton to deepen and energize such a tradition? Why shouldn't former presidents continue their political lives in Congress? The British have long benefited from a tradition whereby former prime ministers acquire a seat and voice in the House of Lords. In today's unusual circumstances, surely beyond the imagination of any novelist, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would not have to fret about suitable protocol for dealing with her spouse on foreign trips were he occupied, full time, with senatorial duties.


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Friday, November 21, 2008

Madame Secretary...

From the NY Times...so it's gotta be fit to print, right? Clinton Is Said to Accept Offer of Secretary of State Position:
"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."


As secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton will have had a powerful platform to travel the world and help repair relations with other countries strained after eight years of President Bush’s policies. But at the same time, she will now have to subordinate her own agenda and ambitions to Mr. Obama’s and sacrifice the independence that comes with a Senate seat and the 18 million votes she collected during their arduous primary battle.

Driving Mrs. Clinton’s deliberations in part, friends said, was a sense of disenchantment with the Senate, where despite her stature she remained low in the ranks of seniority that governs the body. She was particularly upset, they said, at the reception she felt she received when she returned from the campaign trail and sought a more significant leadership role in the expanding Democratic majority.

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Daschle Nominated to Health and Human Services

The NY Times Caucus Blog is reporting that Tom Daschle--who once magnanimously gave his Senate staff to Obama when he (Daschle) retired and Obama came into the job-- is up for the post of Health and Human Services.

Here's what I like about this idea. It gives an added heft to the post of Health and Human Services, signaling that maybe, just maybe, health care can become a priority for the government. Between Daschle and Ted Kennedy and Max Baucus, can we hope that universal health care might become a reality?

"If confirmed, Mr. Daschle could end up being the point man on any efforts to overhaul the country’s health care delivery and insurance system, a tall order, health policy experts say, given the current economic situation."

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Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Hillary as SOS

The NY Times weighs the idea of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Let the frenzy of speculation begin...
I have to say, I'm not against the idea, especially after it was pointed out that Kennedy shot down Hillary's bid to head a sub-committee on health care... Perhaps it would be better to use her skills in the vast frightening arena of world politics...:

"In reality, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama are much closer to each other on the global issues that will confront the Obama administration. While Mrs. Clinton voted to authorize the Iraq war in 2002, so did a majority of her Democratic colleagues in the Senate. Since then, she and Mr. Obama, who opposed the Iraq war, have found their way to similar positions on a timetable for withdrawing American troops. They both support sending additional troops to Afghanistan, and agree on climate change and Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

And while they publicly sparred during the primary over whether Mr. Obama, as president, should meet with Iranian leaders without preconditions, Mr. Obama has since said that such an outreach would first involve lower-level preparatory work, a position that is closer to Mrs. Clinton’s."


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Friday, November 14, 2008

Haven't we met before?

HuffPo reports that John McCain and Barack Obama will meet Monday: "'On Monday, President-elect Barack Obama and Senator John McCain will meet in Chicago at transition headquarters. It's well known that they share an important belief that Americans want and deserve a more effective and efficient government, and will discuss ways to work together to make that a reality. They will be joined in the meeting by Senator Lindsey Graham and Congressman Rahm Emanuel.'"


I have to say, our man has class -- West Wing fans want to know, will it be a Matt Santos-Arnold Vinick sort of thing? Hillary's name is being floated for Sec. of State, but will it perhaps be McCain? The ultimate bipartisan gesture...

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Thursday, November 6, 2008

Rahm Emanuel and the Ballet

Eric and I have a running joke that everyone who's anyone was at the Joffrey Ballet at some point. From Time Magazine come the news that not only did Rahm Emanuel (Obama's new Chief of Staff) study ballet, he was offered a scholarship at the Joffrey.

Note to CNN, a guy studying ballet is not --NOT-- a "ballerina." As a matter of fact, not every little girl in a pink tutu is a "ballerina." A "ballerina" is a professional female dancer of widely acknowledged accomplishments.

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