Obama administration official Linda Douglass on Sunday dismissed claims that the White House has tried to compile an "enemies list" and censor debate on healthcare reform legislation.
Last week, the White House made a blog post accusing opponents of spreading "disinformation" on healthcare and encouraged supporters to submit "fishy" information floating around the internet.
"We don't have a list we're not keeping any of the sources of information those are all crazy charges," said Douglass, who is Communications Director of the White House Office of Health Reform. Douglass appeared on CNN's "Reliable Sources" on Sunday.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) sent the White House a letter at the end of last week expressing concern that the Obama administration may be collecting personal information belonging to their vocal opponents.
Douglass also responded to criticism that the White House has tried to stifle debate. She said people were entitled to their opinion but "there is a lot of misinformation and as I said in the video there is a lot of 'disinformation,' that's information that's meant to mislead you."
"There is a lot of effort to scare people," the former ABC newswoman added.
Additionally, Douglass refuted the YouTube clip that sparked the controversy. The video montage featured Obama speaking favorably about a single-payer healthcare system during his time as a senator.
"He didn't have a different position when he was a senator," she said, explaining he was speaking hypothetically at the time.
President Obama should visit Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas -- and for that matter, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- before moving a terrorist detention facility, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) said Wednesday.
Roberts kept up his campaign against a potential relocation of suspected terrorists to his home state after it was reported this week that the Obama administration has been examining prisons in Kansas and Standish, Michigan.
"No member of the Kansas congressional delegation has been briefed by the White House on Leavenworth's consideration," Roberts said in a web video he posted this afternoon. "So we invite the president: Come to Leavenworth, see firsthand that this is a dangerous idea. See the best learning center in our military."
Roberts had threatened to "shut down the Senate" over the proposal, and kept up his campaign today, calling the idea of moving prisoners to Ft. Leavenworth "absurd."
But Roberts also called on the president to visit Guantanamo Bay before he follows through on his plan to shutter the terrorist detention facility at the Naval base.
"Mr. President, come to Ft. Leavenworth and see for yourself. And oh, by the way, I would also encourage you to actually visit Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which I understand you have not visited either," Roberts said. "See for yourself what it means to close this facility and move it inside the limits of the continental United States."
President Obama asked supporters to commit to attending at least one community event during August to voice support for healthcare.
The president's political arm, Organizing for America, emailed supporters to ask them to turn out to support lawmakers at public events after a rash of boisterous uprisings at town halls have made national headlines.
"Throughout August, members of Congress are back home, where the hands they shake and the voices they hear will not belong to lobbyists, but to people like you," Obama wrote in an OFA email.
"Home is where we're strongest," the president said. "That's why Organizing for America is putting together thousands of events this month where you can reach out to neighbors, show your support, and make certain your members of Congress know that you're counting on them to act."
The email asks supporters to join at least one event in their community during August.
The email marks an extensive organizing effort put together by Democrats in Washington to combat healthcare reform opponents during the August recess, especially after the very public uprisings at district events in recent days.
President Obama is too inexperienced in national politics to really understand the legislative process, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Wednesday.
Grassley, who as a lead negotiator of the bipartisan healthcare reform deal the president supports has dealt often with Obama, said that while he likes the president personally, Obama effectively only had two years of experience in national politics.
"I think that he is a good person, and good-intentioned," Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a radio interview. "But I believe he didn't serve in government long enough to understand really how things work."
"Remember, he was in the Senate four years, but effectively only two years because he spent two years where he was hardly ever here at all -- he was campaigning for president," Grassley said. "He really does not have an understanding of how Congress operates."
Grassley said that while the president's numerous advisers may help him understand the process, Obama still has a "tough time."
Still, Grassley did save some praise for Obama's personal skills, though.
"You can't help but like the guy," the Iowa Republican said. "As he's talking to you, he looks you right in the eye, and you're the most important person in the world. He's not like a lot of politicians."
"He's very idealistic, and so when you're idealistic you want to put all those things into practice," Grassley added. "So I think he's maybe trying to do too much at one time."
President Obama sent his well wishes to those gathered in Nairobi, Kenya for the AGOA Forum, promising U.S. assistance to the continent of Africa.
"Today, it is my privilege to address you as President," Obama said in a videotaped message. "I do not see the countries and the peoples of Africa as a world apart. I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world. In our global economy, our economic fortunes are shared."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is among a number of diplomats in Kenya for talks on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), trade legislation instituted in 2000 to help with Africa's economic development.
President Obama expressed relief Wednesday over the release of two American journalists from North Korea after the two arrived safely back in the U.S.
Obama thanked former President Bill Clinton, who traveled as a humanitarian envoy to North Korea to secure the release of the journalists, for his work to secure the safe return of Laura Ling and Euna Lee.
"We are obviously extraordinarily relieved," Obama said of Ling and Lee's return. "The reunion that we've all seen on television I think is a source of happiness not only for the families but for the entire country."
Ling and Lee were arrested and convicted of illegally crossing the border into North Korea while filming a documentary for former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV.
"I want to thank President Bill Clinton -- I had a chance to talk to him -- for the extraordinary humanitarian effort that resulted in the release of the two journalists," Obama said.
"I think that not only is this White House obviously extraordinarily happy, but all Americans should be grateful to both former President Clinton and Vice President Gore for their extraordinary work," the president added. "And my hope is, is that the families that have been reunited can enjoy the next several days and weeks, understanding that because of the efforts of President Clinton and Gore, they are able to be with each other once again."
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) accused Republicans of fueling "mob rule" by way of encouraging conservative protesters of Democratic lawmakers and the Obama administration across the country.
DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse brought out the heavy artillery in a lengthy statement issued late Tuesday blasting the GOP and enablers in interest groups for spurring the protests.
"The Republicans and their allied groups -- desperate after losing two consecutive elections and every major policy fight on Capitol Hill -- are inciting angry mobs of a small number of rabid right wing extremists funded by K Street Lobbyists to disrupt thoughtful discussions about the future of health care in America taking place in Congressional Districts across the country," Woodhouse said in a statement.
The statement comes on the heels of townhalls and events in districts across the country, where House lawmakers are on August recess, at which conservative activists have often engaged in raucous protests.
Woodhouse likened the crowds to those during the 2008 presidential campaign who accused then-Sen. Obama of being a "socialist," out of which he said the "birther" movement was born.
He also accused Republicans of coordinating with interest groups.
"These mobs are bussed in by well funded, highly organized groups run by Republican operatives and funded by the special interests who are desperately trying to stop the agenda for change the President was elected to bring to Washington," Woodhouse said.
"The right wing extremists' use of things like devil horns on pictures of our elected officials, hanging members of Congress in effigy, breathlessly questioning the President's citizenship and the use of Nazi SS symbols and the like just shows how outside of the mainstream the Republican Party and their allies are," he added.
It is remarkably callous and extraordinarily out-of-touch for the White House and the Democrats to call the genuine concern over President Obama's government-run health care plan "manufactured." American families, small business owners, doctors, veterans, and seniors have real and serious concerns over the president's risky and costly government-run health care experiment. And they should -- taxpayers will pay for this costly health care experiment because it will raise taxes without decreasing costs, increase the deficit and lead to less choice and lower-quality health coverage
Republicans are also pointing to a line contained with a Democratic memo outlining recess activities highlighting the party's coordination with HCAN, Families USA, AFSCME, SEIU, AARP, among other groups, over recess.
The White House is asking Americans to report on each other, the office of House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) asserted Tuesday.
Cantor spokesman Joe Pounder flagged down a section on the White House blog posted this morning responding to the Drudge Report in which Americans are encouraged to email the White House on "something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy."
In response, Pounder emails: "This morning, the White House posted on their blog a note asking Americans to report anything they get or see about health care reform 'that seems fishy.'"
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) confidently predicted Tuesday that the Senate would pass extended funding for the "cash for clunkers" program before it adjourns for the August recess.
"We will pass cash for clunkers," Reid said in a press availability after Senate Democrats lunched with President Obama at the White House.
Obama had planned to lean on the Democrats to pass the $2 billion extension for the auto rebate program before leaving. Some Republican senators and even a few Democrats signaled some reluctance to quickly pass the legislation.
Reid said the Senate would vote for the extension "before we leave here."
When asked if he thought the Senate had the votes to extend the program, Reid simply said, "Yes."
While the Obama administration and members of Congress have asserted the economy may recovering, one senator warned Tuesday that further declines may be on the way.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said that the is no consensus that the economy has begun to recover, and spoke of a potential "double bottom" in which the recession would again deepen before the economy recovers.
"Although some say the economy has bottomed out...there are a number of other economists who say we are going to have a 'double bottom,' and that we're just at a temporary leveling off -- that we will see further declines," Crapo told Idaho reporters in a news conference today.
"So there's still not a consensus that we actually have seen the economy begin the last upward healing process," Crapo added.
Crapo expressed skepticism about those claims, asserting that any recovery in the economy at this point certainly wouldn't be due to Obama's economic policies.
"Whatever impact is causing the economy to stabilize -- if it is stabilizing -- is almost certainly not as a result of the stimulus package," Crapo said.
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