Slowly but surely, more economists and experts are expressing some optimism about the economy, saying the worst might be over. New indicators released this morning support that sentiment.

Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker told the Danville Register & Bee newspaper that he thought the economy was leveling out and there was “reason for hope.”

Government data released today showed the U.S. economy contracted more slowly than expected in the second quarter of the year. Other figures showed the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped last week and those collecting long-term unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level since April.

Other than the economic indicators, it looks to be a slow, August day in Washington. President Barack Obama is still on vacation and has no plans to speak to the media today as he has the past couple of days.

Several days of mourning for Senator Edward Kennedy began on Thursday with a private family mass in Hyannis Port before the senator’s body will be taken to the presidential library of his late brother. The body will remain there until Saturday when his funeral will be held at a Boston church. He will be buried on Saturday evening at Arlington National Cemetery near the graves of his slain brothers John and Robert.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (People line up for job fair in Washington)

President Barack Obama remains hard at work at the summit of G8 wealthy industrialized nations in Italy on Thursday, while his top domestic initiatives stumble and misfire at home.

Obama’s top legislative priority, a massive overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, has lurched through weeks of intensive horse-trading and positioning on Capitol Hill, where five different committees in Congress are trying to fashion workable proposals that can win initial approval by the August recess.

That timeline appears to be slipping as the effort to attract Republican support, pare the bill’s price tag of at least $1 trillion and find ways to pay for it without broad tax increases has left even some Democrats restive.

Obama’s other priority in Congress, the climate change bill, faces a much tougher road in the Senate than in the House, which passed a version late last month.

Republican criticism of his efforts to turn around the economy also has grown as the jobless rate continues to rise and calls for a second stimulus spending package grow louder.

Meanwhile, polls show Obama’s approval rating, while still strong, slipping slightly. A new CNN poll put it at 61 percent , down a point from a month earlier, while his disapproval rating inched up two points to 37 percent. In some areas he has taken an even harder hit, with his approval rating in the battleground state of Ohio slipping from 62 percent in May to 49 percent.

It’s enough to make a guy not want to come home.

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Photo credit: REUTERS/Brian Snyder (Librarian Gary Klein looks at jobs at The Work Place, which offers career services, in Boston)

When things are down and out people tend to go in search of higher powers.

And President Barack Obama is, after all, a person (and does not walk on water like some fans might believe).

His speech on the economy, given in a hall with painted religious figures at Georgetown University, a Jesuit school, was sprinkled with religious metaphors. Perhaps he’s hoping for some divine intervention out of the country’s financial mess.

(The religious metaphors come on the heels of Obama’s first attendance at a Sunday church service since he became president. Coincidence?)

“There is a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells the story of two men. The first built his house on a pile of sand, and it was destroyed as soon as the storm hit,” Obama said.

“But the second is known as the wise man, for when ‘…the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house…it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”

And wait for it… here it comes… the tying of the Sermon on the Mount to the U.S. economy…

“We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock,” Obama said.

And the president isn’t the only one in government getting religion on the economy.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a speech titled “Four Questions about the Financial Crisis” — a reference to the Jewish holiday of Passover.

“As you may know, a highlight of the traditional Passover meal occurs when the youngest child asks four questions, the answers to which tell the history of the Jews when they were slaves in Egypt and during their exodus to the Promised Land,” the head of the U.S. central bank said.

“In the spirit of the holiday, today I will pose and answer four important questions about the financial crisis,” Bernanke said.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (Obama at Georgetown University), Reuters/Str Old (Aerial view near Sea of Galilee of hill where Jesus gave Sermon on the Mount)

It’s Good Friday and U.S. financial markets are closed, but the government is open for business.

President Barack Obama will discuss financial conditions in a meeting this morning with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp head Sheila Bair, Securities and Exchange Commission chief Mary Shapiro and Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan.

Obama is expected to make some brief public remarks at the end of the meeting.  The White House session comes amid tentative signs of recovery in ailing financial and retail sectors, according to a front page story in the Washington Post.

The standoff between a U.S. warship and Somali pirates continues in the Indian Ocean. Pirates were able to recapture Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips after he tried to swim to safety in an escape attempt on Friday.

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Ho New  (U.S. Navy destroyer Bainbridge in Jan 2008 file photo. The USS Bainbridge arrived on Thursday off the Somali coast)

Back from his first international tour, President Barack Obama jumps back into his government’s efforts to help the struggling American economy.

First order of business is a roundtable discussion at the White House about low interest rates. The meeting will include members of Obama’s economic team and in an effort to draw attention to the benefits of low interest rates, Obama will also meet some homeowners who have refinanced now that rates are at historical lows.

During his meeting with his top economic advisers, Obama is expected to discuss the progress of “stress tests” of the 19 largest U.S. banks to see how they would withstand even tougher economic times.

U.S. stocks are expected to open higher today after the New York Times reported the U.S. banking industry seems to be in better shape than people think.

Lurking in the background of a day of economic discussions is the fate of American crew of the hijacked cargo ship off the coast of Somalia. A U.S. warship is in the vicinity and the crew have control of the Maersk Alabama but the hijackers are holding the American captain hostage in a lifeboat.

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Photo credits: REUTERS/Rick Wilking (Sign for foreclosed house in Denver);  REUTERS/file photo provided by family (Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips in undated photo at his Vermont home)

If a bleary-eyed President Barack Obama, tired after a whirlwind 8-day tour of Europe with a stop in Iraq, accidentally wandered a few blocks away from the White House he might be surprised to see his wife Michelle all dressed up in a red and black outfit complete with pearls.

It’s not his real wife, but just a wax likeness unveiled this week at Madame Tussauds museum.  The wax Michelle Obama and a figure of the president are popular photo opportunities for tourists who take their photos making silly poses with the wax first couple.

Obama might have time for a quick trip to the Wax Museum today, because he has nothing on his public schedule after returning to the White House from his first international tour at around 3 a.m. this morning. Even Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has been given a reprieve from the daily public grilling.

Obama had a busy trip to Europe where he got a rapturous welcome in cities from London to Prague to Istanbul to Baghdad. His goal was to signal to the world a new U.S. approach that breaks with the “go it alone” style of President George W. Bush.

Since his last scheduled stop was in Turkey, he took a side trip and flew a couple hours to Baghdad where he met with U.S. troops and Iraqi leaders — urging Iraqis to take responsibility for their country so U.S. troops could leave.

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Photo credit: REUTERS/Larry Downing (Tourist poses with wax figures of the Obamas at Madame Tussauds wax museum this week)

After calling for Middle East peace and saying he believed in a dialogue with Islam, President Barack Obama ended his first international tour with a surprise trip to Iraq.

Obama took off from Istanbul and, instead of heading home to Washington, traveled to Iraq for a quick visit. He was due to meet U.S. commanders and troops and will speak to Iraqi leaders by telephone. Poor weather in the area caused him to scratch plans to take a helicopter to meet Iraqi leaders in person.

The White House said Obama — who won strong support during the presidential campaign for vowing to wind down the unpopular war in Iraq — would tell Iraqi leaders that there are political solutions to their challenges.

After his foray into foreign policy, Obama will be returning to Washington to deal with the recession at home. But he should be coming home in good spirits — recent polls show Americans are more optimistic about the economy and the direction of their country since Obama took office.

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll showed two-thirds of those surveyed approved of Obama’s overall job performance. Thirty-nine percent said they felt the country was going in the right direction — the highest since Feb. 2005 at the beginning of former President George W. Bush’s first term.

The big question: Did Obama have time to watch the men’s NCAA title basketball game on Monday night? If he didn’t see it live, maybe he’ll see a recording on Air Force One on his way back home. He’ll be sure to be happy to discover that his prediction was right. The North Carolina Tar Heels did indeed go all the way to win the title in a 89-72 rout of Michigan State.

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Photo credits: REUTERS/Umit Bektas (Obama waves as he boards Air Force One in Turkey) ; REUTERS/Rebecca Cook (University of North Carolina Tar Heels’ Dany Green holds up NCAA championship trophy)

The Internet is abuzz over what to make of President Barack Obama’s laughter during a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday.

Interviewer Steve Kroft, as they discussed the ailing automobile industry, said to Obama: “You’re sitting here, and you’re — You are laughing about some of these problems.  Are people going to look at this and say, ‘I mean, he’s sitting there, just making jokes about money’.”

He went on to ask Obama how he explained his mood and laughter.  ”Are you punch drunk?” Kroft asked.

“No, no. There’s got to be a little gallows humor to get you through the day,” Obama said.

What do you make of Obama’s laughter?

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Photo credit: Reuters/Ho New

Take note politicians. Michael Phelps might have some pointers for you.

He won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, but swimmer Phelps sounded more like a politician than an athlete in a morning TV interview today — repeatedly admitting he had made mistakes but sidestepping any direct admission that he had smoked marijuana.

In an interview on NBC’s “Today” show Phelps, who was banned from swimming for three months after a picture was published of of him smoking a “bong” pipe at a party last November, said he had made a “bad mistake”, a “stupid mistake” and showed “bad judgement.”

Asked directly if he had been smoking pot Phelps just said: “It was a bad mistake. I mean, we all know what, you know, what you and I are talking about. It’s a stupid mistake. You know, bad judgment. And it’s something that, you know, I have to, and I want to teach other people not to make that mistake.”

Michelle Obama also headlined one of the morning talk shows, giving her first network television interview as first lady to ABC’s “Good Morning America” from Ft. Bragg, N.C.

She said it hurt to see so many military families have to rely on food stamps to get by and said she hoped to gather information and bring it back to the administration in order to draw attention to the problem and try to find a way to make things better.

The first lady also voiced optimism in the economy, saying her husband was the best person for the job because he is ”a focused, clear-thinking, rational man, and that’s what we need right now.”

President Barack Obama will be focusing on the economy again today, meeting with the head of his economic recovery advisory board — former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

He may be helped in his efforts to assure Americans about the economy as the stock markets appeared headed for a fourth straight day of gains amid increased investor optimism about the stability of banks.

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Photo credits:  Reuters/Jason Lee (Phelps in interview during filming for commercial in Beijing in January); Reuters/Ellen Ozier (Michelle Obama greets military families at Ft. Bragg)

WASHINGTON - Trying to figure out where the Obama team is going on the economy? It probably helps to be a stool maker.
 
The $825 billion stimulus bill moving through Congress “is just one leg in a multi-legged stool,” the president said during a visit to Congress this week.
 
Reporters have been trying ever since to figure out exactly how many legs are on the economic recovery stool.
 
“Is it a three-legged or a four-legged stool?” one reporter asked White House spokesman Robert Gibbs during a briefing Thursday. And, “What are those legs specifically?”
 
“I think roughly you have, whether you’re talking about stools or pillars or what have you, three main areas,” Gibbs said. “You have a Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which is moving through Congress. You have a financial stability package. And you have financial re-regulation.”
 
“I don’t know that it’s tremendously pertinent to get caught up in whether there are three stools, three legs on this stool or four, or rungs, or what have you,” he said.
 
“I think the American people understand that we have to deal with … each of these in order to move the economy forward.”
 
Then Gibbs added a complication: ”I’m not sure … which leg housing is.”
 
But he sought to reassure the American people.
 
“You may not understand which leg of the stool you’re on, but you understand it’s a problem that has to be dealt with.”
 
What about the “international leg of the stool that was discussed by the G20 here … people say that it’s not moving anywhere,” asked a reporter, referring to a group of industrialized and major developing nations.
 
Gibbs said more detail on the international leg would be forthcoming as the G20 meeting in London in April draws near.
 
Reporters were not entirely satisfied with the level of detail coming from the White House spokesman.
 
“I’m wondering,” said one, “when you’re going to show us a little more leg.”
 
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Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Gibbs at a briefing Tuesday)