White House Gaggle

By Bill Burton and Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan

Abord Air Force One,

En route Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

     Q    Do you have any comment on Iran releasing the hiker today?

     MR. BURTON:  You should shortly have a statement from the President.  In fact, it probably went out and you just don’t even know it’s in your inbox just yet.

     Q    How about these reports about Elizabeth Warren being interim director?  Is there anything to that?

     MR. BURTON:  You know, as the President has said, she’s obviously — she’s been a stalwart supporter of consumers and consumer rights.  This was her idea to have this agency.  So she’s obviously in the mix, but the — I don’t have anything new for you on the announcement other than what the President has said, which is that it will come soon.

     I’m just going to short-circuit this for one second because I’ve got Secretary Duncan here and I want to give him an opportunity to talk a little bit about what we’ve been doing on education and what the President has got to say today to students across the country.

     SECRETARY DUNCAN:  Any questions, or should I fire away?

     MR. BURTON:  Fire away.

     SECRETARY DUNCAN:  Obviously it’s been just an amazing time of reform around the country.  And thanks to the President’s leadership and courage and support through Race to the Top, we’ve seen unprecedented change.  You have 46 states that put together plans for reform.  You have 36 states that have adopted higher standards.  As a country, we’re going to stop lying to children and parents and really tell them the truth about where they are in terms of being prepared for college and careers once they graduate.  You have 44 states working together in consortium to come up with better assessments that will be fantastic for students and fantastic for teachers.  We saw more than a dozen states remove impediments to innovative schools.

     And so the past 18 months, you’ve seen more education reform than you’ve seen the last decade in the country, and we have a chance to fundamentally break through.  And all of this is behind the President’s goal that we have to lead the world in college graduates by 2020.  And we used to lead the world a generation ago, and we got complacent, we stagnated, other countries have passed us by, and we’re now tied for ninth.  And I think we’re paying a huge price for that today with a tough economy.  And so we have to educate our way to a better economy, and the President’s leadership and the room he’s given the country to drive change has been simply amazing to see.

     The school today is a Blue Ribbon school.  It’s one of about 304 Blue Ribbon schools around the country that are doing a great job of raising achievement and building a college-going culture for all students.  And we’re thrilled to be going to Philadelphia.  Philadelphia has a school system that’s had some real challenges but is making real progress, and it’s great to be able to highlight the progress they’re making.

     MR. BURTON:  So any questions for Secretary Duncan while we’ve got him here?

     Q    Why do you think that there’s no controversy over this year’s speech, as opposed to last year’s speech where there was a great deal of controversy?

     SECRETARY DUNCAN:  Well, I don’t think there was any need for controversy the last time.  I think people figured out it was a little bit silly.  And I think to have the President talk directly to students about the importance of them taking personal responsibility for their own education, I think every President should do that every year forever.  I think it’s so important as the kind of thing — as I child, I would have loved to have the opportunity to hear from the President directly.

     And I think obviously President Obama is unique in his ability to relate to students.  And as you guys know, he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.  His dad wasn’t around much.  He was raised by his grandparents a decent part of his childhood.  And he’s been through things that many of our children in places like Philadelphia and around the country are experiencing.  And he’s the leader of the free world today because he got a great education and worked hard, and I think he relates to students in a really unique way.  And to watch him, you know, when we do school visits in small groups, they see a lot of themselves in him.  And I think he has the unique ability to help them say that whatever challenges you’re facing at home or in the neighborhoods, there’s nothing more important you can do than get a great education and that’s what’s going to change your life.

     Q    Do you think that Michelle Rhee can survive a Fenty loss today?

     SECRETARY DUNCAN:  Well, I have no idea what’s going to happen.  Obviously you guys would know much better than I.  What I do know is that D.C. has made tremendous progress educationally over the past three years.  D.C. was a school system that was, frankly, historically a disgrace to the country, and it was amazing to me that the nation’s capital school system was allowed to languish for so long and students were allowed to suffer for so long.  And by any measure, by every measure, D.C. has made real and substantive progress. 

Obviously we invested $75 million with them with Race to the Top because of what — because of the progress we’re seeing.  And regardless what happens today — again, you guys know much better than me — that progress has to continue.  D.C. has come a long way, has a heck of a long way to go.  But there’s no reason to go for — not just for the public school system but for the city, D.C. should aim to have the best urban education system in the nation.  That should be its aspiration.

Q    This is probably for Bill, but why did the President not step into this mayoral race?  Adrian Fenty asked him to.  Why did he stay on the sideline?

MR. BURTON:  There are seven states today that are having primaries, and probably hundreds of different races all around the country.   You could ask the same thing about any one of those.  The President doesn’t get involved in every single race, and didn’t get involved in a lot of them today.

Q    Does he want Fenty to win, though?  Is he supportive of Mayor Fenty?

MR. BURTON:  I haven’t talked to him about the race specifically.

Q    How about some of these other races?  Does the President have an interest, just as a student of politics, in watching these intramural Republican elections?

MR. BURTON:  Well, what’s been interesting to watch is, as has been reported before, there’s a lot of energy, especially on the real right wing of the Republican Party.  And, you know, I’ll leave it to the pundits to decide whether or not one candidate is better or makes it harder for a Democrat or a Republican to win, seat by seat.  But it’s obvious that a lot of candidates that the national Republican campaign committees wanted to win aren’t winning and it seems like they’re obviously not getting the outcome that they were looking for.

Q    Bill, does he follow this stuff, though?  I mean, does he have an interest?  Will he be watching the results tonight?

MR. BURTON:  Sure, he follows what’s happening in these races, but he doesn’t sit around and watch cable news for returns.

Q    Is he going to watch to see how the Tea Party is going to perform?

MR. BURTON:  I’m sure he’ll read about it in the paper tomorrow.

Q    Chris Van Hollen — can I quickly ask you about, from Bloomberg — Chris Van Hollen told Bloomberg that he would be willing to look at a year-long extension of all the tax cuts if it was coupled with a permanent extension of the middle-class tax cuts.  And I would like your take, or the White House’s take, on Van Hollen’s statement.

MR. BURTON:  Well, the White House’s take on this tax issue is the same that it has been.  The President thinks that what’s important here is that we extend tax cuts for folks who make $250,000 or less.  Even folks who make more than that will see their income under $250,000 not — will see those taxes not go up. 

The CBO yesterday had a report that couldn’t have said it more clearly.  If we extend those tax cuts for middle-class families, it could mean 2 percent more growth in the economy.  If we don’t, it’s obviously a disaster.

On the other hand, if you extend those tax cuts for millionaires, folks who would get — folks making a million dollars would get something like $100,000 a year — there’s no appreciable gain for our economic outlook.  It costs $700 billion.  Our country just simply can’t afford to do that. 

So the President thinks that we need to get to the business of extending those tax cuts so that we can continue to grow the economy and create a — create an environment where companies can create jobs.

Q    Back to the Elizabeth Warren question, does the White House or does the President in particular see an interim appointment as an especially good option right now because of the prospect of a hard fight with Republicans for either Warren or another appointment to head the agency?

MR. BURTON:  Well, I’m not going to speculate about what the President may or may not do here other than to say that you’ll have — you’ll hear an announcement on this very soon.

Q    Well, without speculating, can you just talk about the options?

     MR. BURTON:  Well, you can see the options if you just look at the law.  There is an option to have this kind of post and that’s certainly an option that the President is considering.

     Q    Is the President reaching out to the five Senate Democrats like Ben Nelson who are saying they want the tax cuts extended for, you know, across the board?

     MR. BURTON:  I can assure you that folks at the White House are in close contact with our partners on Capitol Hill and with folks who are in both parties to see what we can do to make progress on this issue.  The President thinks it’s important in order to grow the economy that we extend these tax cuts for folks who make less than $250,000 a year, and we’re continuing to work with those folks.

     Q    Is he personally reaching out, though — making any phone calls to any of these people?

     MR. BURTON:  I don’t know of any specific calls that he’s made.

     Q    Do you expect that there will be a tough fight to get an appointment to the top of the consumer protection agency?

     MR. BURTON:  If you look at what’s happened in the United States Senate over the course of the last couple years, everything is a tough fight even when it’s judges who pass out of committee unanimously and then go on to pass out of the Senate unanimously.  Even those things can be a tough, hard slog.  So I don’t anticipate that Republicans who have made a determination to obstruct everything that the President wants to do are suddenly going to roll over and say let’s make progress together.

     Q    How does that enter into the calculation of choosing a candidate?

     MR. BURTON:  I think that the President is taking a variety of factors into consideration, including candidates, including the environment, including what’s best for consumers, which is ultimately what’s the most important.  And he’s going to make a pick that he thinks can best extend his values as they relate to protecting consumers.

     Q    Is it possible that he’ll — today?

     MR. BURTON:  Not that I know of.

     Q    What Philadelphia-area politicians might be at the event today?

     MR. BURTON:  We will have — envelope, please — at the airport you will see in about 45 seconds, it looks like, Governor Rendell, Mayor Nutter, and Congressman Brady, Congressman Fattah, and Congresswoman Schwartz.

     Q    Just one more.  It’s been a week since you all started elevating Boehner.  Are you seeing any evidence that this was the right tack to take?

     MR. BURTON:  I think that what’s important here is the underlying fight, which is that the President and congressional Democrats are for extending tax cuts for families who make less than $250,000 a year.  It’s the right thing to do to grow the economy.  It’s the right thing to do to help create jobs.  And what you’ve seen over the course of the last week is a real discussion about that, both in Washington and out around the country. 

     So to the extent that we’ve had a vigorous debate about that, I think that, yes, it has been successful.

     Q    Could you confirm the $60 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia that’s been reported?  Do you have anything on that?

     MR. BURTON:  Saudi Arabia is of course an important military and political partner for us on a wide variety of issues, but as is normal course we don’t confirm any arms deals with foreign countries before congressional notifications take place.

     Q    So Patrick Murphy is not going to be there, Joe Sestak is not going to be there?

     MR. BURTON:  You got the full list of folks.

     Q    Thanks, Bill.

     MR. BURTON:  Thanks, guys.

Reid: Democrat’s Support of Specter is Not Conditional

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Democratic Leadership will stick by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter through thick and thin. The remarks came at a power breakfast on Capitol Hill, where Reid addressed, among other things, Specter’s recent defection to the Democratic Party.

President Obama, Vice President Biden and Reid have all pledged to support Specter when he comes up for reelection in 2010. When asked today whether or not that support was dependent on Specter voting a certain way, Reid said that it wasn’t.

“I’m not going to be in a forever, never position, but the facts are that he’s going to vote with us most of the time,” Reid Said. “I can’t foresee him doing anything that would be so mean spirited that Obama, Biden, and Reid would turn against him.”

If Al Franken wins the Senate Seat in Minnesota, which is still being contested in court, Specter would be the 60th Democrat in Congress, the number needed to stop a Republican filibuster.

“I don’t think [Specter is] going to be an automatic vote, but I don’t have any automatic votes,” Reid said. He was referring to fears from the right that Specter will be the key vote in stifling Republican policy.

Critics believe that Specter is going to help the Democrats steamroll through radical legislation.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has called the filibuster-proof Senate a “threat to the country.” He it would allow the Democrats to “have whatever it wants, without restraint, without a check or a balance.”


Specter's defection became a reality when he was assured by Reid that his seniority in the Senate would not be compromised. Reid has publicly stated that no members of Congress will be “bumped” from a committee position to make room for Specter.

The deal struck regarding Specter’s seniority was that upon defecting, he would be treated as though he had been elected a Democrat in 1980.

Not this Congress, at least.

Reid left open the door to moving Specter up in the ranks next Congress, and said, “We’ll work something out,” adding that in every new session of Congress, committee positions are worked out at the beginning of the term and restructured as necessary, and that the next Congress will not be an exception.

Specter’s Spectacle

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Senator Arlen Specter
Photo by Michael Ruhl

Senator Arlen Specter (Penn.) says that he left the Republican Party because they had stuck their nose into party affairs to the point of breeding extremism. Ironically the Democrats are doing the exact same thing to their newest member. Micromanaging from the highest level doesn’t seem to be exclusive to the Republicans.

Yesterday Specter walked away from the party he has been with for nearly four decades, because he felt they were ignoring moderate voice. Specter announced his decision to defect to the Democratic Party, only the twenty-first time that a Senator has done such a thing since 1890.

President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have both said they will fully support Specter in his 2010 election, but Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Penn.) was not sure that the party establishment should be backing Specter in this way.

“If decisions and candidates are being chosen in Washington, you may just reemphasize that divisive barrier that’s between the parties,” Sestak said. “I think we cannot afford to have a decision that is so important to Pennsylvanians be decided by the party establishment,” and that the voters should be the ones to choose their candidate.

Sestak is rumored to be considering running for the Pennsylvania Senate seat, and would come up against Specter in the Democratic primary. When asked directly, Sestak said he had not decided yet whether or not he would run. Another contender, Representative Allyson Schwartz (D-Penn.) said today that she would not run for the seat.

The republican response has ranged from anger to confusion. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steel likened Specter to Benedict Arnold.

“Clearly, this was an act based on political expediency by a craven politician desperate to keep his Washington power base - not the act of a statesman,” Steel said. “Arlen Specter handed Barack Obama and his band of radical leftists nearly absolute power in the United States Senate.”

Specter responded, “I have not represented the Republican Party, I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.” He was referencing the fact that in the past months there has been an exodus from the Republican Party in Pennsylvania, where over 100,000 individuals changed their party registration from Republican to Democrat.

Specter is defending his position as being one of riding with the tides of his constituency, instead of bowing to the will of a national political party. Critics see it as a survival move of a desperate politician.

Speaking today with President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden, Specter said that staying in the Senate would allow him to carry forward important initiatives for his constituents, speaking specifically about expanding medical research.

Specter would prove to be the 60 Democrat in the Senate, provided that comedian Al Franken prevails in his court case for the Minnesota Senate. Sixty votes, called a supermajority, is enough to override a Republican filibuster. Specter said previously, though, that he was not going to simply back the Democrats automatically, and President Obama acknowledged that, saying, “I don’t expect Arlen to be a rubber stamp.” According to Obama, he and Specter agree in the areas of health care, education, medical research

Breaking News: Arlen Specter Switches Parties (Update)

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Senator Arlen Specter
Photo By Michael Ruhl

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, a long-time Republican, is defecting to the Democratic Party. This switch potentially gives Democrats in the Senate more leverage in passing their legislation and overriding Republican filibusters, if Al Franken is found to win the Senate seat in Minnesota. It's also a crippling blow to the Republican Party, which has been struggling to have its voice heard since the beginning of the 111th Congress.

Specter, 79, is Pennsylvania's longest serving senator, elected in 1980

Specter said that the increasing "extremism" within the Republican Party over the past few years has put both him and his constituents in a difficult position.

"I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," Specter said. "I think it is very important to have a two party system, and a moderate wing of the two party system...The extremes in both parties are taking over."

He highlighted the partisanship which was amplified in Congress by the stimulus vote, saying, "it has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable."

Specter said that his defecting would not make him the "automatic sixtieth vote" for the Democrats, and that he would not be a "party-line voter" who is used to break filibusters.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that he anticipates continued disagreements with Specter, but both of them hope to work together towards common causes. One area that Specter already said he would be opposed to most Democrats on is in reigning in executive power.

Although Specter will run as a Democrat in the 2010 election, he has not decided whether or not he will caucus with the Democrats immediately.

He informed Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) of his decision last night. He then released a written statement at noon today, sending shock waves through the halls of Congress. Specter said that he made the decision gradually over the past few months, and that numerous Democrats encouraged him to defect, including Reid, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Vice President Joe Biden. Reid said that he has been trying to convince other Republicans to switch party as well.

Reid said that both he and President Obama would personally campaign for Specter in his 2010 election after today's events. When President Obama found out, he reportedly telephoned Specter and welcomed him to the party. Specter was one of the few Republicans to vote for President Obama's stimulus package and budget.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Photo by Michael Ruhl

Commentators are already shouting down Specter's move as one of political strategy, as the Senator said that he would find a strong challenger in a Republican primary to be a big threat to his career. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) called it "nothing more, nothing less, then political self-preservation." He continued by saying Specter's, "Own pollster told him that he could not win the Republican primary in Pennsylvania, so his only options were to leave the Senate or join the Democratic Party.”

“I’m not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate, not prepared to have that record decided by that jury,” Specter said.

Former Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Toomey was seen as a strong candidate who could possibly have defeated Specter in the Republican primary. Additionally, Toomey is widely acknowledged as the more conservative candidate, and Specter said he did not want his career ended in a primary by his own party. He said that the Republicans don't want moderates anymore, which is why he was being targeted. "There ought to be a rebellion, an uprising," Specter exclaimed.

Incumbents in Congress have a significant advantage in winning reelection, but Specter was concerned after seeing recent polls. He said that his full constituency does not turn out to vote because the Republican party breeds extremism. Specter said that there are plenty of his constituents who agree with his positions, "but they're non-participants."

McConnell called this a "threat to the country," because it would allow the majority to "have whatever it wants, without restraint, without a check or a balance."

Reid said that with Specter's seniority within Congress, it would be as if he were elected as a Democrat in 1980. Reid was careful to say, however, that committee assignments would only be changed voluntarily, and that Specter's presence on the Democratic side would not bump any other Senators off a particular committee.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), a longtime friend of Specter, doesn't believe that this is going to affect judicial confirmations or any potential Supreme Court vacancies that might surface in the near future.

Specter is "just as independent as ever," Leahy said.

Specter's said that in his time in the Senate, he has exercised "independent judgment to do what [he] thought was best for Pennsylvania and the nation," and that it was not his party that defined him.

Updated 5:00pm EST

Iraqi Refugees need U.S. help, advocates say

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

America must invest more time, money, and human resources to help those displaced by the ongoing Iraq War, according to human rights advocates from the Washington, D.C.-based Refugees International.

The presence of 2.6 million displaced Iraqis persons is overwhelming to neighboring Middle East countries and is “undermining” to the social fabric of Iraq, said Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International, at a speech made today at the National Press Club.

President Barack Obama talked about displacement with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during his surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday.

Bacon is happy at what is being seen as a distinct change from the “little attention” that the Bush Administration paid to Iraqi displacement.

It is estimated that since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, 2.6 million Iraqi’s have lost their homes and have fled other parts of the country. An additional 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, including Syria, Jordan and Egypt.

Bacon said that greater American and international support in receiving refugees and providing financial-aid can help stop the crisis.

Displacement of that many people “affects the whole region”, said Bacon, which results in educated citizens and specialized workers fleeing the country.

There are only 18,000 practicing doctors in Iraq, down from 32,000 doctors in 2002. There are more Iraqi doctors in Jordan than in Iraq’s capitol city of Baghdad, Bacon said.

Last year Democratic Senators Robert Casey (PA) and Benjamin Cardin (MD) introduced a bill to increase aid to Iraqi refugees and allow more of them to enter the United States. Since the FY2010 Budget has been approved by Congress, any appropriated funds to help Iraqi citizens would have to come through additional legislation, Bacon said.

A spokesman for Senator Cardin said it has not been decided yet if similar legislation would be introduced in this Congress.

Refugee International’s Field Report on the Iraqi refugee situation said that the Iraqi government is trying to keep more of its citizens from fleeing their homeland. It is feared by the Iraqi government that the existence of so many refugees tarnishes the image of overall security within the country.

The report also said Iraq violated international refugee laws in 2007 by asking Syria not to accept any more Iraqi refugees.

Many refugees have fears of returning home, the report says, because many of those that returned already have been killed.

Kristele Younes, an advocate with Refugees International, says that security is a major issue in Iraqi neighborhoods, with each little borough acting as its own walled off “fiefdom”.

Younes said that the United Nations is trying to place a tourniquet on the flow of persons out of the country by the end of the year, but significant challenges remain in Iraq, including budgetary shortcomings due to low oil prices, corruption within the government and sectarianism.

The Refugees International’s report on Iraq can be found here.