Today's Update 1/28/2010
Submitted by admin on Thu, 01/28/2010 - 11:51.
TODAY’S MORNING UPDATE: Quote of the Day, Today’s News Clips
Quote of the Day:
Politico: "The circumstances of our time demand that we reconsider and restore the proper, limited role of government on every level. Without reform, the excessive growth of government threatens our very liberty and prosperity," McDonnell said. - Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell in the GOP response to the State of the Union last night.
Today’s News Clips:
Local News:
· Governor Chris Christie promises changes to sewer authority, Associated Press
· NJ governor, Treasury nominee crunch numbers, Associated Press
· N.J. Gov. Chris Christie nominates health commissioner, school construction chief, Star Ledger
· N.J. State audit of Atlantic City uncovers shocking government mismanagement, NewJerseyNewsroom.com
· Editorial: Corzine's appointments / Outrageous exit gifts, Press of Atlantic City
· Christie Crosses N.J. Party Line Amid $34 Billion Pension Gap, BusinessWeek
National News:
· Reality check: President Obama gropes for a strategy, Politico
· Bob McDonnell calls for less government in response to SOTU, Politico
· Republicans say nation can't afford Dem policies, Associated Press
· Castellanos: Saying one thing, doing another, CNN
· Ford Reports Profit for the Year of $2.7 Billion, New York Times
· GOP response: Rate of jobless 'unacceptable,' says Gov. McDonnell, The Hill
Local News:
Governor Chris Christie promises changes to sewer authority
Associated Press
Thursday, January 28, 2010
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie says taxpayers should be appalled about the salary of the director of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission.
Christie says Bryan Christiansen makes $313,000 per year, making him the highest-paid employee in the state pension system.
Christie says it's outrageous because the commission "gets its money predominantly from disadvantaged ratepayers."
A transition team report released last week recommended the authority be reviewed for its hiring of consultants even though it has a professional staff.
The report says the governor should have veto power over the commission and other similar agencies.
Commissioner Frank Calandriello says the commission has tightened its belt and become more transparent recently.
Read Full Article <http://www.app.com/article/20100128/NEWS03/100128023/Governor-Chris-Christie-promises-changes-to-sewer-authority>
NJ governor, Treasury nominee crunch numbers
Associated Press
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie says he had a productive meeting with his nominee for state treasurer but is not yet not ready to say how he intends to fix New Jersey's budget shortfall.
Christie described Wednesday's two-hour session with Treasury nominee Andrew Eristoff as "very interesting'' and said he's learning new things every day.
Christie says he expects to announce by the end of next week how he'll close a gap in the current state budget. The shortfall is being estimated at $1.3 billion as of June 30.
Lower than projected tax collections and increased demand for entitlement programs such as food stamps have caused the midyear budget imbalance.
Christie also faces a deficit of $8-10 billion for the budget year that begins July 1.
Read Full Article <http://www.app.com/article/20100127/NEWS03/100127125/NJ-governor--Treasury-nominee-crunch-numbers>
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie nominates health commissioner, school construction chief
By Susan K. Livio
Star Ledger
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie continued to expand the management team for his 8-day-old administration today by nominating an insurance company’s medical director to lead the state Health Department and a federal prosecutor to run the controversial Schools Development Authority.
As he introduced Marc Larkins as the schools authority’s chief executive officer, Christie also declared he’s ended the agency’s free-spending days.
The governor said that on Tuesday he stopped the authority from making a $1.2 million payment for a $28.7 million high school in Burlington City that already was nearly $17 million over budget. He nullified the authority’s approval by vetoing the minutes of the Jan. 6 meeting when the change order was approved.
"You could practically build another school for what they are over budget,’’ Christie said incredulously yesterday. "This is exactly why the Schools Development Authority has continued to run through billions of dollars of taxpayer money — because of this kind of irresponsibility.’’
Christie said he intended to maintain the authority that members of his transition team said in a report last week will be insolvent by March.
Read Full Article <http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/nj_gov_chris_christie_nominate_2.html>
N.J. State audit of Atlantic City uncovers shocking government mismanagement
By Tom Hester Sr.
NewJerseyNewsroom.com
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A state Comptroller audit of Atlantic City government made public Wednesday has uncovered a pervasive waste of tax dollars, from hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on unauthorized employees with no apparent job responsibilities to millions of dollars lost to fiscal mismanagement.
The Office of the State Comptroller audit lays out a road map for improving fiscal operations in almost every area of the city's government, including payroll and personnel, grants management, information technology, mercantile licensing and the police department. Each of the audit's 40 recommendations must now be incorporated by the city into a corrective action plan.
"We conducted an expansive audit of Atlantic City government and just about everywhere we looked we found significant problems," Comptroller Matthew Boxer said. "There is simply too much at stake in Atlantic City to allow this type of fiscal mismanagement to continue. Atlantic City's casino industry is an economic generator for its residents and for the entire state. Unless there is fiscally responsible government in Atlantic City, the full potential of that economic generator will not be realized."
Boxer, the comptroller, served with Gov. Chris Christie in the U.S. attorney's office in Newark. Christie is expected to retain him in the position.
Read Full Article <http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/nj-state-audit-of-atlantic-city-uncovers-shocking-government-mismanagement>
Editorial: Corzine's appointments / Outrageous exit gifts
Press of Atlantic City
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
t was not a graceful exit move: In one of his last official acts, former Gov. Jon S. Corzine handed out appointments that allowed some top-level political appointees to stay in the system long enough to get a state pension or boost their existing one.
Corzine appointed three department heads and a few other high-level staffers to three- or five-year terms on several obscure state boards - such as the state Board of Veterinary Examiners and the state Board of Examiners of Ophthalmic Devices and Ophthalmic Technicians. Those boards pay only about $150 per monthly meeting.
But here's the catch: It's just enough to tip the $1,500 threshold for these appointees to stay in the state pension system.
The threshold was raised from $1,500 to $7,500 in 2008 in a bill signed and trumpeted, ironically, by Corzine. But it applied only to new hires. All these appointees are grandfathered. And some do not have the 10 years in government needed to be vested - to draw a state pension in the future. So these jobs get them further along the path - or tip them over the finish line - toward getting taxpayer-financed pension benefits for life.
Here's another outrage: Because state pensions are based on the three highest earning years - not the last years - they will earn pensions based on their highest salaries. Example: The three-year term on the state Board of Pharmacy given to Corzine's education commissioner, Lucille Davy, is enough to will get her vested into the pension system - where she will qualify for a pension of nearly $28,000 a year, based on her $140,460 salary as commissioner.
Read Full Article <http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/editorials/article_a1758d67-27c0-5f96-bf7c-1c701dba70b5.html>
Christie Crosses N.J. Party Line Amid $34 Billion Pension Gap
By Terrence Dopp
BusinessWeek
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Chris Christie, the first Republican elected New Jersey governor since 1997, is counting on the Democrats who control both legislative houses to help him plug a record $34.4 billion hole in the state pension.
Christie, who took office Jan. 19, says he supports a proposal rejected by his Democratic predecessor, Jon Corzine, to scale back public workers’ pensions. The move, the new governor and Democrats say, would help reduce the second-biggest retirement-funding gap among U.S. states, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
“At this point there’s no choice but to become bipartisan,” said Mary Talbutt-Glassberg, a vice president at Devon, Pennsylvania-based Davidson Trust Co., which manages about $900 million, including $40 million for New Jersey clients. “Under past administrations no one even listened.”
New Jersey’s pension deficit, which has nearly tripled since 2004, stemmed from investment declines and benefit enhancements as previous governors, including Corzine, failed to make annual payments.
Corzine, 63, former chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co., also refused in 2006 to support measures from lawmakers in his own party that would have limited pensions to full-time workers.
Read Full Article <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-28/christie-crosses-n-j-party-line-amid-34-billion-pension-gap.html>
National News:
Reality check: President Obama gropes for a strategy
By John F. Harris
Politico
Thursday, January 28, 2010
President Barack Obama on Wednesday night tacked to the right with appeals for tax cuts for small business and new investments in off-shore oil drilling and nuclear power. He tacked to the left with renewed vows to let gays serve in the military and to get U.S. troops out of Iraq.
He sounded at times like a Bill Clinton-style centrist, at others like a bank-bashing populist. He taunted Republicans, and also presented himself as a lonely tribune of cooperation and bipartisan civility in Washington.
In a favorable light, his State of the Union speech may have revealed the mind of a leader who has never cared much about traditional ideological categories and is determined to create his own results-oriented composite of ideas from across the spectrum.
Less charitably, the address could be interpreted as the work of a president who is desperately improvising by touching every political erogenous zone he and his advisers can think of.
Under either judgment, however, it was inescapable that his 69-minute speech — for all the rush of words and policy ideas — was a document of downsized ambitions for a downsized moment in his presidency.
It was presented to the Congress and a national audience with all of Obama’s usual fluency and brio. There were flashes of wit, as when he noted ruefully that “by now, it should be fairly obvious that I didn't take on health care because it was good politics.”
Read Full Article <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32143.html>
Bob McDonnell calls for less government in response to SOTU
By David Catanese
Politico
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Just 11 days after taking office, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia delivered a simple message in his party’s response to President Barack Obama — the "federal government is simply trying to do too much."
Taking care to avoid Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s widely lampooned GOP response to Obama’s first address to Congress last year, McDonnell spoke from the well of the State House in Richmond, standing before a carefully crafted backdrop of ethnically diverse allies and surrounded by applauding GOP lawmakers.
His 1,317-word response was one of the shortest in recent history. And despite the amped up atmospherics, most of it was predictable: an assault on the president's formula to rescue a crippled economy and criticism of the president's massive health care overhaul.
"Live audience for McDonnell talk helped him. Much improvement over last year's Jindal disaster. But nothing new — usual GOP talking points." wrote Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics in a tweet.
"Last year, we were told that massive new federal spending would create more jobs 'immediately' and hold unemployment below 8 percent,” McDonnell said. “ In the past year, more than 3 million people have lost their jobs, but the Democratic Congress continues deficit spending, adding to the bureaucracy, and increasing the national debt on our children and grandchildren." On health care, McDonnell said the GOP plan would allow families to purchase insurance policies across state lines and rein in lawsuits against doctors that drive up costs.
"And our solutions aren't thousand-page bills that no one has fully read, after being crafted behind closed doors with special interests," McDonnell said.
Read Full Article <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32134.html>
Republicans say nation can't afford Dem policies
By Stephen Ohlemacher
Associated Press
Thursday, January 28, 2010
WASHINGTON – The nation cannot afford the spending Democrats have enacted or the tax increases they propose, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday in the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.
McDonnell told a cheering crowd of supporters in Richmond, Va., that Democratic policies are resulting in an unsustainable level of debt. He said Americans want affordable health care, but they don't want the government to run it.
"Today, the federal government is simply trying to do too much," McDonnell said. "In the past year, more than 3 million Americans have lost their jobs, yet the Democratic Congress continues deficit spending, adding to the bureaucracy, and increasing the national debt on our children and grandchildren."
McDonnell said that all Americans want affordable, high-quality health care. But, he added, "Most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government."
McDonnell delivered the Republican response after Obama's speech Wednesday evening. National GOP leaders picked McDonnell as a symbol of their recent success at the polls: He was elected in a rout last fall in a state Obama and the Democrats swept in 2008.
Read Full Article <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_gop_reaction>
Castellanos: Saying one thing, doing another
By Alex Castellanos
CNN
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
(CNN) - The same president who yearned for less partisanship tonight also resorted to it without hesitation a few sentences later, blaming his problems on his predecessor, one long year into his own administration.
That same president who yearned to reduce deficits also called for a huge expansion of government and a bagful of expensive new Washington programs. The same president who said, "We can't wage a perpetual campaign," just brought in his campaign manager to do exactly that. And the same president, who said it was urgent to reduce the deficit, said we would start next year.
Read Full Article <http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/27/castellanos-saying-one-thing-doing-another/>
Ford Reports Profit for the Year of $2.7 Billion
By Nick Bunkley
New York Times
Thursday, January 28, 2010
DETROIT — The Ford Motor Company earned $2.7 billion in 2009 and said Thursday that it now expected to be profitable in 2010 as well.
The profit for 2009, equal to 86 cents a share, was a swing of $17.5 billion from 2008, when the company lost $14.8 billion. It is Ford’s first full-year profit since 2005.
The company ended 2009 with $25.5 billion in cash reserves, nearly twice the $13.4 billion it had at the start of the year.
It also expects an operating profit in 2010, which is a year sooner than executives had previously said the company would become consistently profitable.
“While we still face significant business environment challenges ahead, 2009 was a pivotal year for Ford and the strongest proof yet that our One Ford plan is working and that we are forging a path toward profitable growth by working together as one team, leveraging our global scale,” Ford’s chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, said in a statement. “In every part of the world, we are providing customers with great products, building a stronger business and contributing to a better world.”
Read Full Article <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/business/29ford.html>
GOP response: Rate of jobless 'unacceptable,' says Gov. McDonnell
By Michael O’Brien
The Hill
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The jobless rate in America is "unacceptable," newly-inaugurated Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) will say Wednesday evening.
The GOP governor will aim squarely at jobs and economic issues in the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address.
"One in 10 American workers is unemployed," McDonnell will say, according to a full copy of the remarks posted by the Huffington Post. "That is unacceptable."
"We must enact policies that promote entrepreneurship and innovation, so America can better compete with the world," McDonnell will add. "What government should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation, and litigation that kill jobs and hurt the middle class."
The president is expected to focus acutely on employment and the economic recovery in his first formal State of the Union address this evening. To an equal degree, McDonnell's Republican response takes aim at the heart of Obama and congressional Democrats' top domestic initiatives.
"Today, the federal government is simply trying to do too much," McDonnell says. "Without reform, the excessive growth of government threatens our very liberty and prosperity."
The Virginia governor, who won office last fall in a landslide which saw many of Obama's supporters during the 2008 presidential election switch to support the Republican candidate, will also appeal to bipartisanship.
Read Full Article <http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/78419-mcdonnell-says-economic-situation-unacceptable-in-gop-response>
TODAY’S MORNING UPDATE: Quote of the Day, Today’s News Clips
Quote of the Day:
Politico: "The circumstances of our time demand that we reconsider and restore the proper, limited role of government on every level. Without reform, the excessive growth of government threatens our very liberty and prosperity," McDonnell said. - Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell in the GOP response to the State of the Union last night.
Today’s News Clips:
Local News:
· Governor Chris Christie promises changes to sewer authority, Associated Press
· NJ governor, Treasury nominee crunch numbers, Associated Press
· N.J. Gov. Chris Christie nominates health commissioner, school construction chief, Star Ledger
· N.J. State audit of Atlantic City uncovers shocking government mismanagement, NewJerseyNewsroom.com
· Editorial: Corzine's appointments / Outrageous exit gifts, Press of Atlantic City
· Christie Crosses N.J. Party Line Amid $34 Billion Pension Gap, BusinessWeek
National News:
· Reality check: President Obama gropes for a strategy, Politico
· Bob McDonnell calls for less government in response to SOTU, Politico
· Republicans say nation can't afford Dem policies, Associated Press
· Castellanos: Saying one thing, doing another, CNN
· Ford Reports Profit for the Year of $2.7 Billion, New York Times
· GOP response: Rate of jobless 'unacceptable,' says Gov. McDonnell, The Hill
Local News:
Governor Chris Christie promises changes to sewer authority
Associated Press
Thursday, January 28, 2010
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie says taxpayers should be appalled about the salary of the director of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission.
Christie says Bryan Christiansen makes $313,000 per year, making him the highest-paid employee in the state pension system.
Christie says it's outrageous because the commission "gets its money predominantly from disadvantaged ratepayers."
A transition team report released last week recommended the authority be reviewed for its hiring of consultants even though it has a professional staff.
The report says the governor should have veto power over the commission and other similar agencies.
Commissioner Frank Calandriello says the commission has tightened its belt and become more transparent recently.
Read Full Article <http://www.app.com/article/20100128/NEWS03/100128023/Governor-Chris-Christie-promises-changes-to-sewer-authority>
NJ governor, Treasury nominee crunch numbers
Associated Press
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie says he had a productive meeting with his nominee for state treasurer but is not yet not ready to say how he intends to fix New Jersey's budget shortfall.
Christie described Wednesday's two-hour session with Treasury nominee Andrew Eristoff as "very interesting'' and said he's learning new things every day.
Christie says he expects to announce by the end of next week how he'll close a gap in the current state budget. The shortfall is being estimated at $1.3 billion as of June 30.
Lower than projected tax collections and increased demand for entitlement programs such as food stamps have caused the midyear budget imbalance.
Christie also faces a deficit of $8-10 billion for the budget year that begins July 1.
Read Full Article <http://www.app.com/article/20100127/NEWS03/100127125/NJ-governor--Treasury-nominee-crunch-numbers>
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie nominates health commissioner, school construction chief
By Susan K. Livio
Star Ledger
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie continued to expand the management team for his 8-day-old administration today by nominating an insurance company’s medical director to lead the state Health Department and a federal prosecutor to run the controversial Schools Development Authority.
As he introduced Marc Larkins as the schools authority’s chief executive officer, Christie also declared he’s ended the agency’s free-spending days.
The governor said that on Tuesday he stopped the authority from making a $1.2 million payment for a $28.7 million high school in Burlington City that already was nearly $17 million over budget. He nullified the authority’s approval by vetoing the minutes of the Jan. 6 meeting when the change order was approved.
"You could practically build another school for what they are over budget,’’ Christie said incredulously yesterday. "This is exactly why the Schools Development Authority has continued to run through billions of dollars of taxpayer money — because of this kind of irresponsibility.’’
Christie said he intended to maintain the authority that members of his transition team said in a report last week will be insolvent by March.
Read Full Article <http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/nj_gov_chris_christie_nominate_2.html>
N.J. State audit of Atlantic City uncovers shocking government mismanagement
By Tom Hester Sr.
NewJerseyNewsroom.com
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A state Comptroller audit of Atlantic City government made public Wednesday has uncovered a pervasive waste of tax dollars, from hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on unauthorized employees with no apparent job responsibilities to millions of dollars lost to fiscal mismanagement.
The Office of the State Comptroller audit lays out a road map for improving fiscal operations in almost every area of the city's government, including payroll and personnel, grants management, information technology, mercantile licensing and the police department. Each of the audit's 40 recommendations must now be incorporated by the city into a corrective action plan.
"We conducted an expansive audit of Atlantic City government and just about everywhere we looked we found significant problems," Comptroller Matthew Boxer said. "There is simply too much at stake in Atlantic City to allow this type of fiscal mismanagement to continue. Atlantic City's casino industry is an economic generator for its residents and for the entire state. Unless there is fiscally responsible government in Atlantic City, the full potential of that economic generator will not be realized."
Boxer, the comptroller, served with Gov. Chris Christie in the U.S. attorney's office in Newark. Christie is expected to retain him in the position.
Read Full Article <http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/nj-state-audit-of-atlantic-city-uncovers-shocking-government-mismanagement>
Editorial: Corzine's appointments / Outrageous exit gifts
Press of Atlantic City
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
t was not a graceful exit move: In one of his last official acts, former Gov. Jon S. Corzine handed out appointments that allowed some top-level political appointees to stay in the system long enough to get a state pension or boost their existing one.
Corzine appointed three department heads and a few other high-level staffers to three- or five-year terms on several obscure state boards - such as the state Board of Veterinary Examiners and the state Board of Examiners of Ophthalmic Devices and Ophthalmic Technicians. Those boards pay only about $150 per monthly meeting.
But here's the catch: It's just enough to tip the $1,500 threshold for these appointees to stay in the state pension system.
The threshold was raised from $1,500 to $7,500 in 2008 in a bill signed and trumpeted, ironically, by Corzine. But it applied only to new hires. All these appointees are grandfathered. And some do not have the 10 years in government needed to be vested - to draw a state pension in the future. So these jobs get them further along the path - or tip them over the finish line - toward getting taxpayer-financed pension benefits for life.
Here's another outrage: Because state pensions are based on the three highest earning years - not the last years - they will earn pensions based on their highest salaries. Example: The three-year term on the state Board of Pharmacy given to Corzine's education commissioner, Lucille Davy, is enough to will get her vested into the pension system - where she will qualify for a pension of nearly $28,000 a year, based on her $140,460 salary as commissioner.
Read Full Article <http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/editorials/article_a1758d67-27c0-5f96-bf7c-1c701dba70b5.html>
Christie Crosses N.J. Party Line Amid $34 Billion Pension Gap
By Terrence Dopp
BusinessWeek
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Chris Christie, the first Republican elected New Jersey governor since 1997, is counting on the Democrats who control both legislative houses to help him plug a record $34.4 billion hole in the state pension.
Christie, who took office Jan. 19, says he supports a proposal rejected by his Democratic predecessor, Jon Corzine, to scale back public workers’ pensions. The move, the new governor and Democrats say, would help reduce the second-biggest retirement-funding gap among U.S. states, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
“At this point there’s no choice but to become bipartisan,” said Mary Talbutt-Glassberg, a vice president at Devon, Pennsylvania-based Davidson Trust Co., which manages about $900 million, including $40 million for New Jersey clients. “Under past administrations no one even listened.”
New Jersey’s pension deficit, which has nearly tripled since 2004, stemmed from investment declines and benefit enhancements as previous governors, including Corzine, failed to make annual payments.
Corzine, 63, former chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co., also refused in 2006 to support measures from lawmakers in his own party that would have limited pensions to full-time workers.
Read Full Article <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-28/christie-crosses-n-j-party-line-amid-34-billion-pension-gap.html>
National News:
Reality check: President Obama gropes for a strategy
By John F. Harris
Politico
Thursday, January 28, 2010
President Barack Obama on Wednesday night tacked to the right with appeals for tax cuts for small business and new investments in off-shore oil drilling and nuclear power. He tacked to the left with renewed vows to let gays serve in the military and to get U.S. troops out of Iraq.
He sounded at times like a Bill Clinton-style centrist, at others like a bank-bashing populist. He taunted Republicans, and also presented himself as a lonely tribune of cooperation and bipartisan civility in Washington.
In a favorable light, his State of the Union speech may have revealed the mind of a leader who has never cared much about traditional ideological categories and is determined to create his own results-oriented composite of ideas from across the spectrum.
Less charitably, the address could be interpreted as the work of a president who is desperately improvising by touching every political erogenous zone he and his advisers can think of.
Under either judgment, however, it was inescapable that his 69-minute speech — for all the rush of words and policy ideas — was a document of downsized ambitions for a downsized moment in his presidency.
It was presented to the Congress and a national audience with all of Obama’s usual fluency and brio. There were flashes of wit, as when he noted ruefully that “by now, it should be fairly obvious that I didn't take on health care because it was good politics.”
Read Full Article <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32143.html>
Bob McDonnell calls for less government in response to SOTU
By David Catanese
Politico
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Just 11 days after taking office, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia delivered a simple message in his party’s response to President Barack Obama — the "federal government is simply trying to do too much."
Taking care to avoid Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s widely lampooned GOP response to Obama’s first address to Congress last year, McDonnell spoke from the well of the State House in Richmond, standing before a carefully crafted backdrop of ethnically diverse allies and surrounded by applauding GOP lawmakers.
His 1,317-word response was one of the shortest in recent history. And despite the amped up atmospherics, most of it was predictable: an assault on the president's formula to rescue a crippled economy and criticism of the president's massive health care overhaul.
"Live audience for McDonnell talk helped him. Much improvement over last year's Jindal disaster. But nothing new — usual GOP talking points." wrote Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics in a tweet.
"Last year, we were told that massive new federal spending would create more jobs 'immediately' and hold unemployment below 8 percent,” McDonnell said. “ In the past year, more than 3 million people have lost their jobs, but the Democratic Congress continues deficit spending, adding to the bureaucracy, and increasing the national debt on our children and grandchildren." On health care, McDonnell said the GOP plan would allow families to purchase insurance policies across state lines and rein in lawsuits against doctors that drive up costs.
"And our solutions aren't thousand-page bills that no one has fully read, after being crafted behind closed doors with special interests," McDonnell said.
Read Full Article <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32134.html>
Republicans say nation can't afford Dem policies
By Stephen Ohlemacher
Associated Press
Thursday, January 28, 2010
WASHINGTON – The nation cannot afford the spending Democrats have enacted or the tax increases they propose, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday in the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.
McDonnell told a cheering crowd of supporters in Richmond, Va., that Democratic policies are resulting in an unsustainable level of debt. He said Americans want affordable health care, but they don't want the government to run it.
"Today, the federal government is simply trying to do too much," McDonnell said. "In the past year, more than 3 million Americans have lost their jobs, yet the Democratic Congress continues deficit spending, adding to the bureaucracy, and increasing the national debt on our children and grandchildren."
McDonnell said that all Americans want affordable, high-quality health care. But, he added, "Most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government."
McDonnell delivered the Republican response after Obama's speech Wednesday evening. National GOP leaders picked McDonnell as a symbol of their recent success at the polls: He was elected in a rout last fall in a state Obama and the Democrats swept in 2008.
Read Full Article <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_gop_reaction>
Castellanos: Saying one thing, doing another
By Alex Castellanos
CNN
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
(CNN) - The same president who yearned for less partisanship tonight also resorted to it without hesitation a few sentences later, blaming his problems on his predecessor, one long year into his own administration.
That same president who yearned to reduce deficits also called for a huge expansion of government and a bagful of expensive new Washington programs. The same president who said, "We can't wage a perpetual campaign," just brought in his campaign manager to do exactly that. And the same president, who said it was urgent to reduce the deficit, said we would start next year.
Read Full Article <http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/27/castellanos-saying-one-thing-doing-another/>
Ford Reports Profit for the Year of $2.7 Billion
By Nick Bunkley
New York Times
Thursday, January 28, 2010
DETROIT — The Ford Motor Company earned $2.7 billion in 2009 and said Thursday that it now expected to be profitable in 2010 as well.
The profit for 2009, equal to 86 cents a share, was a swing of $17.5 billion from 2008, when the company lost $14.8 billion. It is Ford’s first full-year profit since 2005.
The company ended 2009 with $25.5 billion in cash reserves, nearly twice the $13.4 billion it had at the start of the year.
It also expects an operating profit in 2010, which is a year sooner than executives had previously said the company would become consistently profitable.
“While we still face significant business environment challenges ahead, 2009 was a pivotal year for Ford and the strongest proof yet that our One Ford plan is working and that we are forging a path toward profitable growth by working together as one team, leveraging our global scale,” Ford’s chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, said in a statement. “In every part of the world, we are providing customers with great products, building a stronger business and contributing to a better world.”
Read Full Article <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/business/29ford.html>
GOP response: Rate of jobless 'unacceptable,' says Gov. McDonnell
By Michael O’Brien
The Hill
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The jobless rate in America is "unacceptable," newly-inaugurated Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) will say Wednesday evening.
The GOP governor will aim squarely at jobs and economic issues in the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address.
"One in 10 American workers is unemployed," McDonnell will say, according to a full copy of the remarks posted by the Huffington Post. "That is unacceptable."
"We must enact policies that promote entrepreneurship and innovation, so America can better compete with the world," McDonnell will add. "What government should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation, and litigation that kill jobs and hurt the middle class."
The president is expected to focus acutely on employment and the economic recovery in his first formal State of the Union address this evening. To an equal degree, McDonnell's Republican response takes aim at the heart of Obama and congressional Democrats' top domestic initiatives.
"Today, the federal government is simply trying to do too much," McDonnell says. "Without reform, the excessive growth of government threatens our very liberty and prosperity."
The Virginia governor, who won office last fall in a landslide which saw many of Obama's supporters during the 2008 presidential election switch to support the Republican candidate, will also appeal to bipartisanship.
Read Full Article <http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/78419-mcdonnell-says-economic-situation-unacceptable-in-gop-response>
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