from Summit Notebook:
U.S. Commerce Secretary doesn’t like ring of Shanghai Silicon Valley
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke says one thing he doesn't want to see is a Shanghai Silicon Valley develop from China's investment in clean energy.
He warned that if the United States doesn't move forward on clean energy, it risks falling behind China where the government is spending almost $100 billion a year to support renewable energy and clean energy efficiency.
And China is not doing it just to address climate change issues, but because it sees an economic opportunity. "They're really focusing investing in the clean energy field to serve the needs of the world," Locke said at the Reuters Washington Summit.
"And so that's why it's very important that we pass clean energy legislation because there's so many investors, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists who are sitting on the sidelines waiting for that certainty," he said. "They just want to know what the rules of the game are, what the tax incentives are, what the tax rules and regulations are before they commit."
The longer the U.S. government takes to pass comprehensive energy legislation, "the farther ahead the Chinese will be and we certainly do not want 10 years from now Shanghai and other parts of China to be the Silicon Valley of the clean energy field," Locke said.
He agreed with President Barack Obama's equation. "The president has said that the country that leads in the clean energy sector will lead the world economy, I believe that's true," Locke said.
For more news from the Reuters Washington Summit, click here.
Obama’s 3rd Commerce pick makes rounds in Senate
President Barack Obama’s third pick to head the Commerce Department, former Washington Governor Gary Locke, made the rounds in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday hoping to win support to be confirmed for the job.
Apparently escaping notice by most reporters, Locke waited with aides outside the Senate chamber as lawmakers cast votes on the $410 billion fiscal 2009 spending legislation which includes the Commerce Department.
He is the president’s third nominee for the position. Obama’s first choice, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, withdrew because of an inquiry into a company that did business with his state government. His second pick, New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg pulled out after discovering intractable political differences with the new administration.
Locke met with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller who was effusive about the nomination, but acknowledged that the Senate review process was not yet complete.
“It’s not over yet and that’s such a frustrating process,” Rockefeller said. “It’s moving well, I really liked him. We’re lucky to have him.”
After one vote, Locke disappeared into an elevator with Democratic Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee. He also exchanged a few words with two other Senate Democrats, new Alaska Senator Mark Begich as well as Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.
The First Draft: “Nobody messes with Joe”
One decent laugh line in President Barack Obama’s address to Congress had to do with Vice President Joe Biden and his new assignment in the financial crisis. Obama gave Biden the task of overseeing the recovery process. The Capitol Hill audience broke up when the president announced Biden’s new task:
“With a plan of this scale comes enormous responsibility to get it right and that’s why I’ve asked Vice President Biden to lead a tough, unprecedented oversight effort, ’cause nobody messes with Joe.”
That was last night. This morning, Biden made the rounds of the morning talk shows. On NBC’s “Today” program, he said his wife Jill — shown in the gallery during Tuesday’s nationally televised speech — was skeptical about the “nobody messes with Joe” line. But then he got down to business, telling the “Early Show” on CBS television that his first move is to meet with Cabinet members “to make sure I know specifically … what resources they have available, how they’re going to distribute those resources, how we’re going to follow the money.”
It’s a full day at the White House, with Biden’s recovery meeting followed by a late morning news conference by Obama to introduce former Washington state Governor Gary Locke as the new nominee for commerce secretary (the two previous nominees, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, withdrew their names from contention).
Then the president meets with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the top banking honchos from Capitol Hill in the Oval Office, and he’s scheduled to make remarks about the meeting in late afternoon. In the evening, Obama and first lady Michelle Obama host Stevie Wonder at a White House honoring the pop music great, who is to receive the 2nd annual Gershwin Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Library of Congress.
Photo credit: REUTERS/Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Pool (President Obama addresses Congress, as Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi applaud, February 24, 2009)
Rob, Bush also inherited Bill’s Clinton’s deregulation which is the root cause of the banking industry’s present condition, AND the subprime mortgage and foreclosure mess which has impacted the American people and the economy.
As for Obama, a neophyte politician in the White House, when what we need is a saavy business person who understands that in order to boost this economy, we need to grow our business community, not the government. As long as it is more financially lucrative for businesses to move and/or grow their overseas offices, that’s where the jobs will be. Until the US starts offering the same tax incentives for businesses, there will be no job creation, other than in the government and believe me, I have been there and don’t want to go there again.
First draft: commerce conundrum
How many people does President Barack Obama have to nominate before he finally gets a Commerce Secretary? He himself doesnt seem to know — he even suggested reaching back in time and tapping Abraham Lincoln for the job.
But for live candidates, so far it’s two and counting. One close ally (Bill Richardson), one Republican who seemed — initially — willing to work with the Democratic president (Judd Gregg). At least until yesterday when he changed his mind.
That left Obama, who was visiting the land of Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, on Thursday, to muse that the 16th president might be sitting somewhere “maybe wondering if someone might call him up and ask him to be commerce secretary.”
Failing that, who’s next? And when will Obama finally complete his cabinet?
These questions will be swirling around as the president waits for the Congress to pass a $789 billion economic stimulus package. Obama wants lawmakers to pass the bill before the end of the Presidents’ Day holiday so he can quickly sign it into law. The votes should be around noon in the House and in the early evening in the Senate.
The bill — a compromise between House and Senate versions — is expected to pass in both chambers. The big question is how many Republicans will vote for it? In the first round, no Republicans in the House voted for it while only three moderate Republican Senators voted to pass the stimulus package.
With Valentine’s Day on the horizon — here’s a warning from Khartoum, where Muslim clerics have urged Sudanese youngsters to boycott the romantic holiday, saying it’s a Western institution that could lead couples astray.
hi tc, eric has his moderate hat on again,do think it is because he is seeing his decreasing liberal mantra,”let freedom ring”become more bankrupt as the socialists take a greater strangle hold of the democratic party?chaves is an example of what socialists think of free speech.bring on the” media control bill”eric ok?
Feingold calls pick of Gregg replacement ‘undemocratic’
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrat Russ Feingold denounces as “alarmingly undemocratic” the apparent deal-making that went into picking a Senate successor to U.S. commerce secretary-designee Judd Gregg.
Feingold sees the selection as fresh ammo in his drive to amend the U.S. Constitution to require that vacant Senate seats be filled by a special election rather than a gubernatorial appointment.
President Barack Obama nominated Gregg, New Hampshire’s three-term Republican senator, as commerce secretary on Tuesday. Democratic New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch named a Republican, Bonnie Newman, as Gregg’s Senate replacement — if Gregg is confirmed, as expected, by the Democratic-led Senate.
Apparently with the blessing of Obama and Senate Democratic leaders, Gregg stipulated as a condition of accepting the nomination that he be replaced by a fellow Republican.
Gregg did so in order to preserve the Senate’s current balance of power and deny Democrats a possible 60th seat that could be used to smash Republican procedural roadblocks.
Feingold called Gregg “well qualified” for the job, but denounced the selection process of Newman, a successful businesswoman who served as Gregg’s chief of staff when the senator was in the House of Representatives. “The apparent behind-the-scenes deal-making that went on to determine who will fill Senator Gregg’s vacancy is alarmingly undemocratic,” Feingold said. “Once again, Americans will be represented in the Senate … by someone they had no hand in electing.”
Since Obama was elected president in November, four Senate seats have been vacated by members of the Obama administration and filled by gubernatorial appointments. They include seats held by Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
Russ Feingold doesn’t go far enough.
The Constitution of the United States should be amended to provide for an immediate, gubernatorial replacement of an interim senator, followed by a special election within 90 days, the results of which allow the newly elected senator to immediately replace the interim senator.
It should also contain a provision for a state to recall a senator for non-represenation, malfeasance, or the appearance of illegal behavior; and be replaced by special election within 90 days of the incident(s).
New Hampshire governor indicates he will replace Gregg with a Republican
WASHINGTON — New Hampshire Governor John Lynch appears to have cleared the way, at least politically, for Democratic President Barack Obama to name Republican Senator Judd Gregg as U.S. commerce secretary. Lynch, a Democrat, indicated in a brief statement on Monday that he would yield to Gregg’s demands and appoint a Republican to replace him in the Senate if Obama, as anticipated, picks the 61-year-old New Hampshire senator as head of the U.S. Commerce Department. A Senate Democratic aide wrote in an e-mail to Reuters that if Obama picks Gregg, Lynch will indeed replace him with another Republican in order not to upset the balance of power in the Democratic-led Senate. If Gregg was replaced by a Democrat and Minnesota’s Al Franken survived a court challenge of his apparent victory, Democrats would have 60 seats in the 100-member Senate, enough to ram through Republican procedural roadblocks. Gregg did not want to do that to his fellow Republicans. “I have had conversations with Senator Gregg, the White House and U.S. Senate leadership,” Lynch said in the statement issued by his office. “Senator Gregg has said he would not resign his seat in the U.S. Senate if it changed the balance in the Senate. Based on my discussions, it is clear the White House and Senate leadership understand this as well.” Without specifically saying he would replace Gregg with a Republican, Lynch said: “It is important that President Obama be able to select the advisors he feels are necessary to help him address the challenges facing our nation. “If President Obama does nominate Senator Gregg to serve as Commerce Secretary, I will name a replacement who will put the people of New Hampshire first and represent New Hampshire effectively in the U.S. Senate.”
Photo credit: Senator Gregg’s website (http://gregg.senate.gov/public/)
Obamas narrow choices on family dog
WASHINGTON – U.S. President-elect Barack Obama says his family’s decision about a family dog has been more difficult than choosing a new Commerce secretary, but he, his wife and daughters are getting closer to a decision. “We’re closing in on it,” Obama said in an interview with ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”. He said his daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, had decided they wanted a medium-sized dog and were looking closely at a labradoodle or a Portuguese water hound. Obama also said the girls wanted a shelter dog. The president-elect promised his daughters during the campaign that whether he won or lost the election, he would grant their wish for a dog. Their choices of dog breeds are limited because they need to pick one that is hypoallergenic because of Malia’s allergies. “This has been tougher than finding a Commerce secretary,” Obama said. His initial pick for that post, Bill Richardson, withdrew from consideration saying a legal inquiry in his home state would have complicated his Senate confirmation for the job. The Obamas, who are staying at the posh Hay-Adams hotel across from the White House and will move into the executive mansion in just over a week, are also looking at local Washington churches. The Obamas used to attend the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, but left after a controversy developed over controversial comments by Trinity’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. “One of the things that Michelle and I will be doing is probably visiting some churches and seeing what’s comfortable,” Obama said. “It is tougher as president,” adding that visiting churches can be difficult because of security involved when he goes anywhere within Washington. “You don’t want to subject your fellow church members, the rest of the congregation, to being magged (walking through metal detectors) every time you go to church. And so, we’re going to try to be balancing, not being disruptive to the city, but also saying we want to be part of Washington D.C.,” Obama said.
For more Reuters political news, click here.
- Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Obama family visits the Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 10.)
The Portuguese Water Dog lobby has a connection to Obama: DNC delegate Gaye Pollitt. SFReeper.com has the interview:
http://www.sfreeper.com/2009/01/19/portu guesewaterdog/
