CNBC's Erin Burnett is in a bit of trouble for comparing the elections in Iran to the debate over card-check. Specifically, she seemed to suggest union elections would be like Iranian elections if the Employee Free Choice Act passed.
"It wasn't a secret ballot," Burnett said on yesterday's Street Signs. "I think that's important. They're going to know everybody and how they voted. Maybe that makes, by the way, a strong point for this whole union conversation we're having in this country."
Unions are already firing back at Burnett. SEIU is asking supporters to bombard her with emails and took the opportunity to criticize CNBC for it's pre-financial crash journalism:
CNBC isn't exactly a shining example of responsible journalism. The financial news network has been ridiculed for enabling the financial crisis with flawed reporting and fawning coverage of failed CEOs.
The outcome of the Iranian presidential election signals the need for "regime change" in that country, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said Monday.
Rohrabacher, a member of the House Foreign Relations committee, and ranking member of its Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight, said the election results were "fraudulent."
Rohabacher made the comments on his Twitter page, tweeting:
The fraudulent Iranian election has mobilized opposition to the Mullah regime; the U.S. should back them, now's the time for a regime change
The remarks revive the longstanding Bush administration policy of seeking regime change in countries that were part of the so-called "Axis of Evil" -- which included Iran.
The Middle Eastern country has been roiled by domestic strife and protests since the government declared incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the victor over reformist candidate MirHossein Mousavi.
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) hit the Obama administration Monday for its "silence" on the tumult in the wake of the presidential election in Iran.
Cantor said the administration should take a more public stance on the issue, citing a "moral responsibility" to stand against the crackdowns on protestors who allege the election results, handing incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a lopsided victory, were rigged.
"The Administration's silence in the face of Iran's brutal suppression of democratic rights represents a step backwards for homegrown democracy in the Middle East," Cantor said in a statement Monday.
"President Obama must take a strong public position in the face of violence and human rights abuses," the second-ranking House Republican added. "We have a moral responsibility to lead the world in opposition to Iran's extreme response to peaceful protests."
Cantor also urged the administration to work with Congress to do everything in their respective power to make sure Iran isn't able to develop a nuclear weapon.
The Obama administration doubts the results of the presidential election in Iran, a U.S. State Department spokesman said Monday.
"We do have doubts about the election results," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in the State Department's daily news briefing.
Still, Kelly said the U.S. can't yet publicly assess whether or not the election results, showing incumbent hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cruising to victory over reformist MirHossein Mousavi, are credible, particularly because no independent election monitors were permitted to oversee the vote.
Kelly said that the U.S. was currently working with international partners to pressure Iran to living up to its commitments to hold an open election.
"The international community remains committed to seeing Iran living up to its international responsibilities, and we will continue to use all avenues to try to convince Iran to meet its international obligations," he said.
Kelly also denied that national security concerns over Iran's nuclear weapons program would take a back seat to concerns about the election results.
"What I am saying is that we will call things like they are, when we see irregularities and problems with elections," he told reporters.
There are a number of factors to give the Obama administration concern about the validity of the outcome of the Iranian presidential election, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.
"I think there are a number of factors that give us some concern about what we've seen," Gibbs said in a gaggle with reporters before President Obama's speech before the American Medical Association (AMA) this afternoon.
Gibbs said that the White House did not have much to add, though, beyond the statement issued by Gibbs this past weekend, and what Vice President Biden said during an appearance on "Meet the Press."
"Obviously we continue to have concern about what we've seen. Obviously the Iranians are looking into this, as well," Gibbs told reporters. "We continue to be heartened by the enthusiasm of young people in Iran."
Still, Gibbs emphasized that the administration's concern over Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions or state support of terror groups hasn't been in any way changed by the results of the presidential election and accordant turmoil and protests.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the U.S. economy will not recover until the middle of next year, according to an assessment of the domestic economy released Monday.
"The combination of financial strains and ongoing adjustments in the housing and labor markets is expected to restrain growth for some time, with a solid recovery projected to emerge only in mid-2010," the IMF said in a report on the U.S. economy conducted under a section of the organization's rules.
The IMF report, though, largely praised the practices of the Obama administration in response to the recession, though it acknowledged that serious challenges still remain for the president.
The $787 billion stimulus signed into law earlier this year by President Obama was "well targeted, timely, diversified, and sizeable," the IMF reported, projecting a one percent boost in gross domestic product (GDP) as a result of the spending in 2009, and a .25 percent boost next year.
The report also praised the Treasury-led initiative to partner with financial institution to help rid toxic assets from banks' balance sheets.
Still, the IMF said the administration had major challenges on the horizon, including setting the stage for sustained recovery, unwinding its intervention in the economy, and reshaping the financial and housing markets.
"Going forward, unwinding interventions will pose major challenges, and -- given the high level of cross-border competition in the financial sector -- will need to be coordinated internationally to facilitate a smooth exit," the report said.
The report comes as the U.S. commitment to the IMF is being hotly debated in Congress as part of the spending on the war supplemental bill. Republicans have derided the IMF funding, topping $100 billion, as a bailout for the international economy, and have refused to vote for a supplemental to which IMF funding is attached.
President Obama welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's endorsement of a Palestinian State during a speech on Sunday.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the president saw the speech, in which Netanyahu backed a Palestinian state for the first time in exchange for the disarmament of that state, was an "important step forward" in the Mideast peace process.
"The President welcomes the important step forward in Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech," Gibbs said in a statement.
The Associated Press reported that Netanyahu had been under "intense pressure" from Obama to make such an endorsement, which has been a sticking point in the peace process for years.
"He believes this solution can and must ensure both Israel's security and the fulfillment of the Palestinians' legitimate aspirations for a viable state, and he welcomes Prime Minister Netanyahu's endorsement of that goal," Gibbs said of Obama's reaction.
Gibbs said that the U.S. was also committed to working with involved parties to achieve peace and "comprehensive regional peace."
The Obama administration acknowledged possible irregularities in the outcome of the presidential election in Iraq in a statement to reporters on Saturday.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that President Obama is keeping a close watch on the situation in Iran, where incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared victory over former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi casting their ballots in yesterday's election.
"Like the rest of the world, we were impressed by the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians," Gibbs said in a statement. "We continue to monitor the entire situation closely, including reports of irregularities."
Mousavi has alleged that Ahmadinejad manipulated the vote tally in Iran to secure reelection.
Ahmadinejad, long a thorn in the side of the current and previous U.S. administration, was seen as the more conservative candidate, while Mousavi was seen as a more reformist, pro-Western candidate.
The deficit spending in the U.S. is "worrisome" but necessary, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said late Friday afternoon, coming to the defense of President Obama.
"I think the fiscal situation in the United States is very worrisome," Harper, a trained economist and right-leaning political leader in his country, told Fox News's Neil Cavuto.
Still, Harper gave Obama cover for the large spending initiatives undertaken by the U.S. government since the onset of the financial crisis and recession.
"President Obama came into office with the United States in a deep, structural deficit position, at a time when fiscal situation -- when deficit spending is required economically," Harper said. "The fact of the matter is that we need stimulative spending now -- and I say that as a conservative."
Harper said that the structural deficit that Obama encountered was "not his fault" and was inherited.
Amind allegations of voting irregularities in the Iranian election, some have pointed out the convenient image on the front page of today's Washington post.
It features the two leading candidates, incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi casting their ballots in yesterday's election.
Ahmadinejad has declared victory, though Mousavi has said that the ruling Ahmadinejad and his loyalists have rigged the vote, maybe stuffing the ballot box.
So the Post's photo is interesting: Ahmadinejad holds up two fingers; Mousavi holds up one.
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