Administration

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and economic advisor Larry Summers laid out the framework for the Obama administration's regulatory reforms in an op-ed in the Washington Post Monday morning.

The whole thing is worth reading since the roll out of the plan will dominate the week, along with healthcare reform.

Geithner and Summers break down the plan into five problems and remedies. They start by laying out this uplifting diagnosis of the current system:

Our framework for financial regulation is riddled with gaps, weaknesses and jurisdictional overlaps, and suffers from an outdated conception of financial risk. In recent years, the pace of innovation in the financial sector has outstripped the pace of regulatory modernization, leaving entire markets and market participants largely unregulated.

The fourth problem and remedy stands out because it touches upon how the biggest reform will change the current regulation structure, I think.

Fourth, the federal government does not have the tools it needs to contain and manage financial crises. Relying on the Federal Reserve's lending authority to avert the disorderly failure of nonbank financial firms, while essential in this crisis, is not an appropriate or effective solution in the long term. Read more...

President Obama's campaign arm has launched a website dedicated to help push health care reform through Congress.

Organizing for America (OFA) sent an email to its massive email list Wednesday morning announcing the website - mybarackobama.com/HealthCare.

The site breaks down Obama's healthcare goals into three broad categories: "Reduce costs," "Guarantee choice" (including a public option) and "Ensure quality" care for all. It also urges users to sign an online petition to Congress in support of those goals.

"The race to pass real healthcare reform in 2009 is heating up. Early drafts for a full proposal are already circulating in the Senate and in the House," OFA director Mitch Stewart writes in the email. "While our opponents twist arms to weaken reform, the future of American health care is up for grabs. That's why we're launching our Health Care Action Center. It's a one-stop shop for taking action and learning more to build support for real reform."

This is the second time OFA has sought to put its massive email list to use in pushing legislation. In March, they sought to drum up support for Obama's budget. That effort got mixed reviews.

A couple things worth noting: First, in OFA's defense, this is new waters - no president has had an email list like this and sought to use it for legislative priorities.

Second, this attempt appears to be geared as generating high numbers of participants, that can then be touted to the press. Signing an online petition is really easy and the goals listed are so broad that they would appeal to most, I think.

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Looks like the White House is hoping to beef up its online presence by hiring some new tech-savvy employees.

Rock Creek Strategic Marketing is listing four openings for positions in Obama's Office of New Media. One of the openings is for a "Spanish Language Website Content and Producer," which could mean we'll be seeing a Spanish version of WhiteHouse.gov soon.

If you are one of those campaign workers that didn't land a job in the administration, maybe one of these positions is for you.

From Rock Creek Strategic Marketing:

Web Videographer and Multimedia Producer

Rock Creek Strategic Marketing, a leading Washington, DC metro area branding, strategy, and communications firm, seeks a web videographer and multimedia producer for an on-site position with the White House Office of New Media. The videographer/producer will develop story concepts in line with client communication goals, coordinate video shoots, and oversee production of final video deliverable for use in a variety of forms, mainly online media. Strong preference given to candidates currently residing in the DC metro area. U.S. Citizenship required.

Web Video Editor and Production Assistant

Rock Creek Strategic Marketing, a leading Washington, DC metro area branding, strategy, and communications firm, seeks a web video editor and production assistant for an on-site position with the White House Office of New Media. In this position, your primary responsibility will be to provide post-production assistance to the videographer working on the client's website, as well as interfacing with other members of the client service team to create dynamic web content. You must thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven, high-pressure, and high-visibility environment. Strong preference given to candidates currently residing in the DC metro area. U.S. Citizenship required. Read more...

President Obama will accelerate the disbursement of stimulus funds in an effort to spur job creation, the White House announced Monday.

With the increase, Obama plans to save or create 600,000 in the next 100 days. That would be four times the number of jobs the stimulus package saved or created in its first 100 days, according to the White House.

"We have a long way to go on our road to recovery but we are going the right way," Obama said in a statement. "Our measure of progress is the progress the American people see in their own lives. And until that progress is steady and solid; we're going to keep moving forward."

Vice President Joe Biden, who oversees the stimulus spending, will present Obama and his cabinet a "Roadmap to Recovery" for the next 100 days on Monday. In particular, the plan will focus on several key targets such as beginning work on 107 national parks, starting construction on 98 airports and more than 1,500 highways around the country and funding 135,000 Department of Education jobs, among others.

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White House spokesman Bill Burton released the following statement Monday following the conviction of two U.S. journalists in North Korea.

"The president is deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release."

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First Lady Michelle Obama has a new chief of staff, the White House announced Thursday evening.

Obama has hired Susan Sher, a "longtime mentor and friend" from Chicago, to replace Jackie Norris.

"Since the beginning of this administration," the first lady said in a statement, "Susan has served as a senior member of the East Wing and West Wing teams providing legal counsel, working as a member of the health care reform task force and leading Jewish outreach, and her transition to chief of staff will be seamless."

According to her statement, Norris is becoming a senior advisor to the Corporation for National and Community Service.

"Jackie Norris has been a colleague and friend since the earliest days of the Iowa campaign," Obama said. "She has built a strong organization in the East Wing and made tremendous progress on issues that are important to me and the president."

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Here is President Obama speech in Cairo Thursday morning, as prepared for delivery.

Stay tuned for more on the address.

Remarks of President Barack Obama

A New Beginning

Cairo, Egypt

June 4, 2009

I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.

We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world-tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.

Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust.

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end.

I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. No single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have all the complex questions that brought us to this point. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors. There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. As the Holy Koran tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth." That is what I will try to do - to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.

Part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience. I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.

As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam. It was Islam - at places like Al-Azhar University - that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.

I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America's story. The first nation to recognize my country was Morocco. In signing the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, our second President John Adams wrote, "The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims." And since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States. They have fought in our wars, served in government, stood for civil rights, started businesses, taught at our Universities, excelled in our sports arenas, won Nobel Prizes, built our tallest building, and lit the Olympic Torch. And when the first Muslim-American was recently elected to Congress, he took the oath to defend our Constitution using the same Holy Koran that one of our Founding Fathers - Thomas Jefferson - kept in his personal library.

So I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed. That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't. And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.

But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire. The United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known. We were born out of revolution against an empire. We were founded upon the ideal that all are created equal, and we have shed blood and struggled for centuries to give meaning to those words - within our borders, and around the world. We are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the Earth, and dedicated to a simple concept: E pluribus unum: "Out of many, one."

Much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected President. But my personal story is not so unique. The dream of opportunity for all people has not come true for everyone in America, but its promise exists for all who come to our shores - that includes nearly seven million American Muslims in our country today who enjoy incomes and education that are higher than average. Read more...

Talk about a bipartisan Tuesday for President Obama. First, he nominates GOP Rep. John McHugh (N.Y.) to be Army Secretary. Now he's signing legislation honoring President Ronald Reagan with Nancy Reagan at his side.

In brief remarks, Obama said that Reagan helped "restore a sense of optimism in our country."

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President Obama is comfortable in Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's position on abortion rights because of "the general way with which she interprets the constitution," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs just said.

Numerous reports on Thursday suggested that some groups that support abortion rights have raised questions on whether Sotomayor would vote to uphold Roe v. Wade because her previous writings have been somewhat non-committal on the issue, they say.

Gibbs said on Thursday that Obama did not ask Sotomayor about abortion rights when they met, nor did Sotomayor volunteer an opinion on the topic. Gibbs reiterated, though, that Obama is confident in Sotomayor's views because of "her approach to judging."

Gibbs also said, however, that other White House officials may have discussed abortion rights with Sotomayor.

"I have no reason to believe that if the president didn't ask that others didn't," Gibbs said.

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The White House rollout of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court appears to be effectively shaping public opinion about the jurist so far, according to a poll released Thursday.

The Gallup poll found that a plurality - 47 percent - rated the choice of Sotomayor as "excellent" or "good." Twenty percent said it was "only fair" and 13 percent rated the nomination as "poor."

The poll was conducted on Tuesday, the day Obama announced the nomination.

Interestingly, Gallup also provides the following chart comparing the initial reaction to Sotomayor to that of John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Harriet Miers's nomination. It appears that Roberts performed best, followed by Sotomayor.



And, unsurprisingly, there is a significant partisan gap over the pick.



Also check out this chart on the party breakdown of the last four Supreme Court nominees. Looks like the excitement among Democrats for Sotomayor is about the same as the Republican excitement was for Alito, Miers and Roberts. Read more...