SanLuisObispo.com: Politics

Obama thanks Illinois fundraisers

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:40 PST

By By ANN SANNER -- President-elect Barack Obama thanked his Illinois finance committee on Thursday night for helping him win the election, telling them it was not the end of their work but the beginning.

Obama made the remarks at a private club in Chicago, where roughly 100 fundraisers had joined him and his wife, Michelle.

He called the event "a gathering of friends," which is why he wanted to hold it, he said.

Obama raised $104 million toward election's close

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:35 PST

By By JIM KUHNHENNN and JIM DRINKARD -- Barack Obama's presidential campaign raised $104 million in the weeks around Election Day, a grand finale to a successful bid that shattered fundraising records.

Overall, Obama raised nearly $750 million during his odyssey to the presidency, according to reports being filed with the Federal Election Commission. The reporting period covered Oct. 15 to Nov. 24.

The campaign said more than 1 million contributors donated during the period, with more than half donating for the first time. Throughout the campaign, more than 3.95 million contributors gave to the eventual president-elect, his campaign said.

Government to post huge deficit under CBO estimate

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:41 PST

By By ANDREW TAYLOR -- Payments from the Wall Street bailout fund and slumping tax revenues will ensure a record federal budget deficit, based on congressional estimates released on Thursday.

The Congressional Budget Office said that the government has run a $408 billion deficit - under Treasury Department accounting rules - in just the first two months of the 2009 budget year, which started Oct. 1.

Many economists say the deficit will soar above $1 trillion in 2009 as Congress passes a new economic stimulus measure and money pours from the Troubled Assets Relief Fund, or TARP, as the government hopes to right the economy.

For last time, Bush presides over tree lighting

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:11 PST

By By CHRISTINE SIMMONS -- For the final time as president, George W. Bush led the countdown Thursday night to lighting the nearly 42-foot Christmas tree that overlooks the White House.

"Everybody join. Five, four, three, two, one," Bush shouted along with thousands of guests attending the ceremony. The crowd cheered heartily when the tree on the Ellipse by the Washington Monument sparkled with yellow lights and a glowing star.

Before the lights went on, Bush remembered U.S. troops who are risking their lives far from home.

D.C.'s Mall to be opened to handle huge inauguration crowd

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:16 PST

By By WILLIAM DOUGLAS AND LISA ZAGAROLI -- The view might not be great, but you can still say you were there.

With more than a million people expected to descend upon Washington for President-elect Barack Obama's Jan. 20 swearing in, the Presidential Inaugural Committee announced Thursday that the entire length of the National Mall will be open to the public for the first time to accommodate the anticipated overflow crowd.

The Mall, which stretches 2.5 miles from the steps of the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, will be equipped with large viewing screens and speakers so that people standing far away from the swearing-in event can see and hear.

Auto hearing: Reality TV without the laughs

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:16 PST

By By LAURIE KELLMAN -- Big men drove small cars on a road trip to Washington to beg for billions and billions of taxpayers' dollars. They rotated driving duties, ate at Quiznos, and - presumably - used public restrooms like the rest of us.

Sound like a not-so-funny reality show? It was. But it's no game for millions of ordinary Americans whose way of life depends on the outcome. For them, it could be a real-life tragedy.

The participants were executives of Detroit's Big Three U.S. car companies. Their sought-after prize: $34 billion in public aid for their beleaguered industry.

Clinton scrambles to reduce campaign debt

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:10 PST

By By BETH FOUHY -- With just weeks before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in, his choice for secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is scrambling to reduce massive campaign debt before federal ethics rules prohibit her from doing so.

Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will headline a major debt retirement event in New York Dec. 15 with "Ugly Betty" star America Ferrera as master of ceremonies. Tickets range from $50 to $1,000, with top donors earning a premium seat and a backstage photo with the former first lady.

Clinton also plans to sell a children's book, titled "Dreams Taking Flight" by author Kathleen Krull, about her pioneering candidacy. Clinton's mother, Dorothy Rodham, planned to send an e-mail to supporters later this week asking them to purchase the book to help raise funds to pay down Clinton's debt.

Democrats: Obama needs hands-on economic approach

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:21 PST

By By JIM KUHNHENN -- Democrats are growing impatient with President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to inject himself in the major economic crises confronting the country. Obama has sidestepped some policy questions by saying there is only one president at a time. But the dodge is wearing thin. "He's going to have to be more assertive than he's been," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told consumer advocates Thursday.

Frank, who has been dealing with both the bailout of the financial industry and a proposed rescue of Detroit automakers, said Obama needs to play a more significant role on economic issues.

"At a time of great crisis with mortgage foreclosures and autos, he says we only have one president at a time," Frank said. "I'm afraid that overstates the number of presidents we have. He's got to remedy that situation."

Bush: Marriage has gotten better in White House

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:11 PST

President George W. Bush, increasingly reflective as he caps two turbulent terms in the White House, said Thursday that the pressures of the job have brought him closer to his wife, Laura.

"I give her all the credit about why I can say a good marriage has gotten better," Bush told NBC News in one of several interviews the president and the first lady are giving as they exit.

President Bush said he and his wife have "been through a lot together. It's been a fabulous journey."

Carmakers' bailout pleas hit Senate skepticism

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:16 PST

By By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS -- Desperate U.S. automakers ran into fresh obstacles from skeptical lawmakers Thursday as they appealed with rising urgency - and a new dose of humility - for a $34 billion bailout. Without help, said one senator, "we're looking at a death sentence."

With lawmakers in both parties pressing the automakers to consider a pre-negotiated bankruptcy - something they have consistently shunned - the Big Three were contemplating a government-run restructuring that could yield results similar to bankruptcy, including massive downsizing, in return for the bailout billions. But there was no assurance they could get even that.

And that wasn't all the unwelcome news. Congressional officials said one leading proposal - to tap an already approved fund set aside for making cars environmentally efficient - wouldn't give the carmakers nearly as much money as they say they need.

Name by name, Obama's Cabinet taking shape

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:06 PST

Day by day, name by name, President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet is taking shape, and other top jobs are being filled.

A look at who has made the list and who is being talked about for jobs that are still open:

NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED:

Source: Obama, Becerra meet on trade job

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:11 PST

By By ERICA WERNER -- California Congressman Xavier Becerra met with President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday to discuss the job of U.S. trade representative.

The meeting took place at Obama's transition office in Chicago. It was confirmed by a Democratic official who spoke on condition of anonymity because no public announcement has been made.

Becerra, a Democrat just elected to his ninth term representing Los Angeles, is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and an ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

US mulls unusual tactic as Blackwater charges loom

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:11 PST

By By MATT APUZZO and LARA JAKES JORDAN -- Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in the deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting of Iraqi civilians could face mandatory 30-year prison sentences under an aggressive anti-drug law being considered as the Justice Department readies indictments, people close to the case said.

Charges could be announced as early as Monday for the shooting, which left 17 civilians dead and strained U.S. relations with the fledgling Iraqi government. Prosecutors have been reviewing a draft indictment and considering manslaughter and assault charges for weeks. A team of prosecutors returned to the grand jury room Thursday and called no witnesses.

Though drugs were not involved in the Blackwater shooting, the Justice Department is pondering the use of a law, passed at the height of the nation's crack epidemic, to prosecute the guards. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 law calls for 30-year prison terms for using machine guns to commit violent crimes of any kind, whether drug-related or not.

Bush rule limits Congress on drilling, mining

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:11 PST

By By DINA CAPPIELLO -- The Bush administration is trying to make it tougher for Congress to block mining and oil and gas drilling on public lands.

The Bureau of Land Management, which manages 258 million acres of federal property, stripped from its regulations Thursday a provision that gives two Congressional committees the power to compel the Interior Secretary to temporarily place public land off limits to mining and oil and gas development.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat and top candidate for interior secretary under President-elect Barack Obama, attempted to employ the little-used provision for the first time in more than 20 years earlier this year in an effort to halt uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.

SanLuisObispo.com: Politics

Obama thanks Illinois fundraisers

Obama raised $104 million toward election's close

Government to post huge deficit under CBO estimate

For last time, Bush presides over tree lighting

D.C.'s Mall to be opened to handle huge inauguration crowd

Auto hearing: Reality TV without the laughs

Clinton scrambles to reduce campaign debt

Democrats: Obama needs hands-on economic approach

Bush: Marriage has gotten better in White House

Carmakers' bailout pleas hit Senate skepticism

Name by name, Obama's Cabinet taking shape

Source: Obama, Becerra meet on trade job

US mulls unusual tactic as Blackwater charges loom

Bush rule limits Congress on drilling, mining

More problems for major post-9/11 security program