By Billy House and Sean Mussenden
Media General News Service

WASHINGTON — He’s at the start of his first term, riding high in public approval ratings, supported by Congress’ Democratic leaders, and fresh out-of-the-gate with legislative victories.

But President Barack Obama also remains cursed with a worsening economy, a need to hold to a tight federal budget, and public anxiousness about two ongoing wars.

With Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid perched behind him, Obama on Tuesday will give his first presidential address to a joint session of Congress.

The speech is not technically a “State of the Union Address” because it is Obama’s first year in the White House, says Ross Baker, a Rutgers University political scientist.

“Still, it’s sort of the season for a State of the Union. And given the gravity of the economy, in particular, I think people will be hanging on every word,” Ross said.

Even as Obama is expected in his nationally televised speech to underscore the severity of the nation’s economic crisis, he will also set the stage for his first proposed federal budget to be outlined to Congress later in the week.

Obama’s administration is not yet prepared to submit a fully detailed budget, which will come in the spring.

But what he will mention Tuesday, and unveil on Thursday, is a framework of his spending priorities and broad funding levels for programs, and the gap he anticipates between the government’s projected spending and revenues.

One Washington think-tank, the Brookings Institution, has issued a report projecting the national deficit will average at least $1 trillion per year for the 10 years after 2009, even if the economy returns to full employment, and that the longer-range picture is even bleaker.

So far, Obama has not needed much Republican support in a Democratic-controlled Congress to get his earliest legislative priorities through, a veritable spending spree in the form of an expansion of health insurance for poor children and a $787 billion economic stimulus package.

But with such huge and long-term budget-deficit projections — things could now get much tougher for the president to muster the congressional votes needed to accomplish some of his prominent campaign promises, such as expanding health-care coverage for the uninsured.

One important thing to watch Tuesday night will be the reaction of Republicans to what Obama lays out in his speech, say non-partisan political analysts.

“I expect (Obama) will use the speech to continue to advance the objective of addressing the most serious economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression,” said Thomas Mann, a Brookings congressional expert.

“He will likely present a very sober assessment of the problem and the extended time it will take to recover from it,” Mann said. “And he will urge Republicans to work with him and the Democrats to do what must be done to avoid a global economic catastrophe.”

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said she hoped Obama would avoid words like crisis or catastrophe when talking about the state of the economy. 

“We keep hearing it’s a catastrophe, a crisis, it’s all negative.  I fear that his continual talking down of the economy down is really doing damage, because people won’t spend. They’re scared to,” she said.

Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., said he expects Obama to use the speech to “rally the forces in a difficult time for the economy, and tell us to hang in there and be willing to sacrifice.”

A spokeswoman for Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., said Hagan was “very much looking to hear how President Obama squares the numerous, necessary and needed changes in our country with the leadership and hopefulness so many North Carolinians and Americans are looking for.”

WASHINGTON  – President Barack Obama’s last campaign was all about winning the presidency. Now his political supporters are throwing election-style house parties across the country to try to get people behind his economic stimulus plan.

Obama’s Organizing for America chief Mitch Stewart sent an e-mail to part of the group’s e-mail list and urged them to tell their neighbors about the president’s plan to save or create more than 3 million jobs. It’s an early test for the ability of a network of political supporters to deliver Obama’s re-election in 2012.

“Join thousands of people across the country who are coming together to watch a special video about the recovery plan,” Stewart wrote in an e-mail many supporters received Friday. “Invite your friends and neighbors to watch the video with you and have a conversation about your community’s economic situation.”

The e-mail message carefully avoided any specific action: no phone calls to lawmakers, no e-mails to opinion-makers, no letters to the editor. Obama and his aides have been clear that the organization shouldn’t be considered an advocacy group for the White House’s policy agenda.

Instead, aides say, next week’s house parties would keep millions of Obama’s grass-roots volunteers engaged.

Obama’s $825 billion economic bill passed easily in the Democratic-controlled House even though it failed to garner a single Republican vote. It looks to be on solid ground as it heads toward a Senate debate; Vice President Joe Biden says some Republicans will support it and take it to victory.

By having Obama’s millions-strong organization linked to the legislation, supporters would enjoy a sense of victory even if their actions play no role in passing the bill. It also is a way to test the organization’s data management tools, which during the campaign to track specific voters.

Obama used an extensive grass-roots organization to reach fundraising records and the White House. In recent weeks he pairedan independent campaign organization with the Democratic Party to push his agenda with an eye toward re-election in 2012.

The two groups operate separately, keeping with a theme of post-partisan rhetoric that has been part of the new administration’s work.

“The president’s plan passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday. But if it’s going to move forward, we need to avoid the usual partisan games,” Stewart wrote. “That’s why supporters are opening their homes to talk with neighbors and friends about how the plan will work – and what it means for their community.”
 
On the group’s Web site, it posted an interactive map that promises a 329,550 jobs saved or created in Florida; 171,750 in Ohio; 158,190 in Michigan – all three swing states.

By using his Organizing for America as a political bully, Obama will be able to keep his hands nominally clean of any messy lobbying of Congress. He’ll be able to attribute it to his supporters.

WASHINGTON – Education Secretary Arne Duncan says the economy won’t improve without the billions of dollars for schools in President Barack Obama’s recovery plan.

Duncan told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that the nation needs a better-educated work force to revive the economy. He said it’s the only way to get out of the economic crisis in the long term.

Obama’s economic stimulus bill cleared the House Wednesday. Critics say much of its $140 billion for schools is not a short-term boost but an immense expansion that will be impossible to roll back.

Duncan said the measure will protect kids by saving teachers’ jobs and by building and renovating schools. It also includes money for reforms related to teaching and student tests.

By SEAN MUSSENDEN
Media General News Service

WASHINGTON-The House passed an economic recovery package Wednesday that would send at least $16 billion to North Carolina, including $1.9 billion over the next two years to help the state patch its gaping budget hole.

The $819 billion package is a mix of spending and targeted tax cuts that supporters hope will immediately create new jobs and kick-start the slumping economy.

Despite President Barack Obama’s plea for bipartisan unity, the package passed along party lines, with every Republican and 11 Democrats voting against it. Rep. Heath Shuler was the only North Carolina Democrat to vote against the measure.

“We have an obligation to get ourselves out of a ditch,” said Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C. “I’m sure a lot of Republicans believe they have the luxury of standing back and second guessing and saying, `no, no, no.’”
Republicans complained that the package was loaded with spending projects that would not immediately create jobs while significantly expanding the deficit.

“We can immediately jumpstart the economy by cutting taxes, but that’s not what this bill is all about. This bill is all about sneaking in all their pet projects,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.
Foxx and other Republicans backed an alternative package that that included larger tax cuts and less spending. The alternative failed Wednesday.

The package that passed included almost $300 billion in increased tax breaks for the poor, some parents, homebuyers and businesses. Republican and Democratic economists disagree about how effective tax cuts are in stimulating the economy.

It also included more than $500 billion for road projects, school construction, health care for the poor and other programs.

One provision would require the Homeland Security Department to only purchase uniforms made in the United States.

Rep. Larry Kissell, D-N.C., a former textile worker who sponsored the uniform provision, said he hoped it would help North Carolina’s ailing textile and apparel manufacturers.
“With our presence in textiles, I feel that it will help us. But, if not, it will help workers somewhere,” he said.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., complained that the many of the tax cuts in the legislation expire within two years. And he complained that the package spent money on the National Endowment for the Arts but did not increase specific assistance for workers who lost jobs when trade deals prompted companies to send jobs overseas.

“There are worthy things not included in the bill,” he said.

In a statement, Shuler said he voted against the package because it would significantly expand the deficit and contained “too much additional spending in areas that will not offer immediate economic stimulus.”

The Senate is expected to pass a costlier version of the package. Then, a committee of House members and senators will hash out differences between the bills. President Barack Obama hopes to sign it by mid-February.

A state-by-state analysis of the House bill by the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, found that North Carolina would receive at least $16 billion from the larger spending and tax cut provisions in the bill.

North Carolina’s share includes $937 million in 2009 and again in 2010 to make up a budget shortfall in the state.

Gov. Bev Perdue, D-N.C., flew to Washington earlier this month to tell congressional leaders and Obama’s aides that the state faces a $2 billion shortfall this year.

Perdue said she could make up half the deficit by cutting state spending but wanted the federal government to make up the remaining $1 billion.

Because the final version has not been signed by Obama, “We’re not quite in a position to say whether it’s enough to fix all our problems, but we’re hopeful,” said Chrissy Pearson, a Perdue spokeswoman.

How North Carolina House Members Voted
Yes
Mike McIntyre, D
Larry Kissell, D
G.K. Butterfield, D
Bob Etheridge, D
Brad Miller, D
David Price, D
Mel Watt, D

No
Howard Coble, R
Virginia Foxx, R
Walter Jones, R
Patrick McHenry, R
Sue Myrick, R
Heath Shuler, D

***

The House version of the economic recovery package targets billions to North Carolina, including money to…

…patch the state budget deficit-$1.9 billion
…bolster Medicaid-$2.6 billion
…build highways and bridges-$802 million
…repair run-down schools-$551 million
…fund clean-water projects-$105 million

Source: Office of the Speaker of the House

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) today issued the following statement on the proposed stimulus package currently being considered by Congress:

“Our economy is currently facing enormous challenges.  People and employers are still having a difficult time getting credit — credit that allows them to make large purchases, buy equipment, invest for the future, and fund their daily business operations.  As a result, businesses are struggling to stay afloat, workers are being laid off, and families are bearing the brunt of the economic storm. 

“President Obama and Congress are currently working on a stimulus bill in the hopes of jumpstarting our economy.  The legislation currently being debated in Congress would spend almost a trillion dollars of borrowed money on projects and programs that are unlikely to produce any real broad-based stimulus or create jobs that will still be here two years from now.  This spending would be on top of the $1.2 trillion budget shortfall that the federal government is already projected to have in this year alone.  If the bill the Democrats have proposed in the Senate does not change drastically, then I will not be able to support it.

“Instead, I believe our first priority should be to help stabilize the housing crisis, which was the spark of this economic downturn.  By guaranteeing low-interest, fixed mortgage rates, we can help homeowners stay in their homes and entice prospective home buyers to get off the sidelines.  This would get to the root cause of what’s harming our economy and light the path toward recovery.  At the same time, we should let taxpayers be the drivers of economic growth by allowing them to keep more of their hard-earned money through lower income tax rates.

“If the president and Congress want to stimulate the economy, we better get it right.  If we don’t, we will not only prolong this economic recession, but Americans for generations will also be faced with either massive tax increases or severe cuts in federal programs to pay off the enormous debt we have accumulated.”

The New York Times looks at just exactly how President Barack Obama will managed to jump start the economy and find Congressional support for expanding health care, moving toward energy independence and transforming the capital’s culture.

CLEVELAND- John McCain says if elected, he’ll break with President Bush’s economic policies and put a tight lid on government spending.

After a meeting with economic advisers in Cleveland this morning, McCain said his plan would “create millions of jobs in America.” He also pledged to protect voters’ savings and investments and vowed to “get the stock market rising again.”

The Republican presidential candidate said both he and his Democratic rival “disagree with President Bush on economic policies.” But he bashed Barack Obama’s plans, saying they would “destroy business growth, kill jobs” and “make a recession even deeper and more painful.”

The Obama campaign says McCain is parroting “the same failed policies that give billions to billionaires and big corporations” and do nothing for middle-class Americans.