News Roundup - Hour 1
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-10-01/news-roundup-hour-1
Congress wraps up early as lawmakers focus on the midterm elections, President Obama continues his backyard tour to rally Democratic supporters and Rahm Emanuel to announce whether he'll enter Chicago's mayoral race. A panel of journalists joins guest host Katty Kay for analysis of the week's top national news stories.
Guests
Ron Elving
Washington editor for NPR.
Melinda Henneberger
editor-in-chief, PoliticsDaily.com.
Michael Hirsh
chief national correspondent, National Journal magazine; author of a new book, "Capital Offense: How Washington's Wise Men Turned America's Future Over to Wall Street."
Related Items
News Roundup Video
A caller offers what he calls the "Southern Republican view" of the upcoming midterm elections and makes the point that if Republicans take control of Congress in November, their success will require them to take on much more responsibility for the country's path moving forward:
The panelists talk about the politics behind the Democrats' decision to postpone a vote on whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans until after the November midterm elections:
Comments
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Mr Elving: I realize that Carter's speech has come to be called "the malaise speech" but I hope you realize that Carter never used that word in the speech. That was a label hung on it by Ted Kennedy.
Why shouldn't the White House be frustrated? Millions voted for change in 2008. Republicans have stood steadfastly united against change. It should be clear to any conscious, concerned American what has happened. Yet many now express dismay that the administration has not accomplished more. What part of obstruction does the public not get?
The problems we face have been building up over a long time; it should not be a sudden realization what we have to do, the work it will take, the costs to set things right. Yet many seem to think Presidents do all the lifting alone. Where have the people sought redress through our representatives in Congress to help meet our needs? For Republicans to consistently mislead the electorate seems instead to be working. Is that the government people want?
I just don't understand how the President's comments in Rolling Stone are being interpreted as "lambasting the base" for complaining. He is saying, in no uncertain terms, that while we may have complaints, it is irresponsible to sit on the sidelines and not vote. He is telling us that we cannot afford to take our ball annd go home. He is saying that if we are serious about achieving change, now is the time to step up. Far from being insulting and talking to us as if we are teenagers, he is expecting us to be adults. We cannot afford to be teenagers and sulk about what hasn't happened.
His message is exactly what we need and he has energized me and my husband to get out there and vote and bring everyone we can along with us.
Couldn't it be that a change in Obama's administration is a good thing?
Maybe people such as Rahm Emmanuel have played their part, and their may be others waiting to be even more effective in their positions.
No president acts alone, and a good crew of advisors can make all the difference. One thing is for sure, David Axelrod doesn't do the president any good when he talks to the press. Sour and aggressive is not going to beat the Republicans, since they hold the patent on that one.
I am confused by a certain argument that has been made by many of the right with the growth in government. They complain about the growth in government, specifically the number of people hired by the Federal government. However, are these people aware that so many of the services performed by the government are outsourced to private contractors. If they choose to contract government, it will have a ripple effect on the economy as well. I think people need to look into this factor, as we have a group who want to reduce government, but can never articulate what they will cut.
To Mr. Wise Guy the Republicans are for...is that what they were doing when they were in power for eight years? Obviously not, they were interested in lining their pockets (Tom DeLay and company). Tell the truth and shame the devil
How can Republicans say on the one hand they "get it" and they are going to work for the American people. Then on the other hand they vote NO on legislation that will benefit to small businesses* and discourage outsourcing.
*By the way...Republicans use the term "small business" very loosely. They are not talking about the mom & pop operation. (Does your neighborhood beauty salon clear a quarter mil per year?) Republicans are representing S Corporations like wall street and media moguls.
Just as our votes are up for sale thanks to Citizens United, "the narrative" -- that device which tells us how to see an event or series of events -- is largely owned by the media. One turns away from Fox because its narrative is so obviously skewed. We turn to the Diane Rehm show and other places for challenging and original discussion, deliberate narrative avoidance, new ideas, new points of view.
Lately the guests on the Diane Rehm show have been increasingly stuck in the ruts of their chosen narratives,have shown much less independent thinking, the latter getting less and less time. Part of this may have to do with the timing: we're closing in on a crucial election.
But the other problem lies in the choice of each day's panel. Competing public radio shows in the same hour ("On Point"-WBUR and to a much greater extent "Radio Times"-WHYY) are now doing a far better job of choosing guests. Of course, neither of these shows is based in DC. And that is part of the problem. But not the whole problem by any means. It's a wild guess, but it may be that the DR show suffers from having an inside-the-Beltway production team. Something's gone wrong over the past year or so.
I agree with VP Biden when he tells Dems to "buck up".
The problems that Pres. Obama faces will take time and patience to solve. He has made great strides in dealing with both health care and the economy - especially given the obstructionist behavior of the Republican party. Anyone who is feeling disappointed or angry has an unrealistic idea of what can be done in a short time.
The greatest concern I have is that the Dems have allowed Reublicans to frame the debate. Dems should be out there touting this administration and it's accomplishments.
Buck up indeed! It's time for the Dems to utilize the courage of their convictions.
I for one am very excited to vote against Republicans. This seems like another very biased hour of Obama bashing.
Democrats won in 2008 with an agenda and have acted accordingly. To rebut one of your criticisms: Democrats stand for lower income disparity, fiscal responsibility, tolerance for all and improving the image of the USA in the world through diplomacy. Wasn't Katty Kay there yesterday when David Plouffe said something very similar?
It appears to me that when the Republicans are in control big business grows and the rich get richer. Then Democrats are put in control to try and cope with the general population who have been getting poorer, losing health care, etc. That translates into bigger government. We don't win with either party in control.
Rahm Emanuel made it clear a long time ago that he wants to be mayor of Chicago. From my decades of experience in business and marriage, far too many people do not listen and consider that some people mean what they say. I believe Emanuel meant what he said about wanting to be mayor of Chicago.
I agree with all the above, and found today's domestic panel extremely frustrating to listen to. Really, they should get a grip and listen to someone outside Washington--stop being captives of the "narrative" they seem to have created and now can't see beyond. I'm particularly disappointed with Ron Elving--isn't NPR supposed to be part of the (heh) reality-based community?
I'm out here in the flyover working hard to get Democrats re-elected, and the response we're having is truly heartening. We're proud of Obama, what the administration has accomplished, and delighted he's back in campaign mode. Many people are only now beginning to think about Nov 2. We do not see this election as an inevitable Republican rout.
What gets me is how neither the media nor the Democrats attack the Republi-Con's and Tea Baggers' claims to believe in "limited government" and the Constitution. If that means a government limited by the Constitution, then where were all these "constitutionalists" when Bush was claiming the power to ignore any law he disagreed with, and actually did it (in secret, of course). Imagine the reaction if Obama said such a thing, or began engaging in secret wiretaps without court warrants, violating both FISA and the Fourth Amendment. Imagine if he claimed the power to seize anyone he considered an "enemy combattant" and hurl them into a legal limbo (Guantanamo) without access to lawyers or courts, and no habeas corpus. Three times Bush was slapped down by the Supreme Court, and the only thing the Republi-Cons did was serve as his cheering section. That's limited government?
And even if you define "limited government" as small in size, check out the growth of Federal spending and the deficit under Bush and the GOP's "sainted" Reagan. It demonstrates that the snake oil they're still selling ("supply side economics") doesn't work, and never worked.
But hey, you can never go wrong promising to cut taxes, and damn the consequences.
The simple truth is: Republi-Cons are marketing geniuses, the Democrats are clueless when it comes to promoting their policies. That's what the real whinners (Biden) can't understand.
P.S. - Given his terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease, Biden is like children: better seen and not heard!
Even if the Democrats repeated their message ad nauseum like Republicans, the Republicans would change their message to counteract it. The entire voting population needs to snap out of this recession-poisoned trance it's in and wake up to the reality that damage to the economy was extraordinarily bad and recovery is going to take years, not months. Except for the very rich, we're all in this together, and this is the worst possible time for the political splintering we're seeing this year.
Wow- only 15 comments on domestic and fewer on international round-up!
I am not blaming Katy, but get well Diane, and soon.
Two posters above have called it an "inside the beltway thing" that panels on drshow are less imaginative and more conservative-allied over time.
I would say it is even worse than that. Because of lobbyists being thick as astroturf in DC, my information leads me to believe the WAMU staff has been corrupted by special interests and big donations. There are several staff conflict of interest scandals at WAMU of late that are being stonewalled and not resolved despite articles in the Washington Post. Also, American University has a history of being dominated by the intelligence community.And the intelligence community has a history of being dominated by oligarchs and big business, and filled with treasure hunters.
In the 30s Gen. Smedley Butler claimed he was recruited by financial barons to replace FDR in a coup. If a coup is in the works that might be reflected in the shifting editorial tone of WAMU and Public Broadcasting. Headquarters in NYC is reportedly being courted by the Koch brothers and other big interests, and promised access to programming and correspondents. We're resembling the PRC (China) more and more day by day.
Dems are confused, they were dazzled and sold themselves on the story that obama was their messiah. The build up of obama was so extreme there was no reality in it. So now dems are upset based on a fantasy of what the past was, the dems sold themselves the narrative that they had delivered a democratic majority for the president, they really had not. It was marginal, and only a majority on its face, made up of blue dog democrats and such conservative dems. In other words the dems failed to deliver the tools he needed, they over estimated their power and so are disappointed based on the fantasy that they could have had everything they wanted. The voters did not deliver, and so you get what you get. Unpopular to say but it is true. You delivered just enough democrats for the president to fight for half a loaf. Now you are upset, that is immature. Stop whining is the correct response by the president. You expected a magic man that would do your work, stop that nonsense.
Republicans never supported the President, that's been consistent.
It's Independents and Democrats that have abandoned him. Surveys suggest they are completely disappointed with Obama's performance and actions relative to his promises. They believe his priorities have been misaligned especially given how much worse things have become since he was elected. [It would appear that only the complete diehards, for whom Obama could never do any wrong and wouldn't vote for anyone with an (R) by their name anyway, on this board are puzzled by a shift to the center in the country.]
In any case, open-minded Democrats and Indpendents are looking for an alternative and, unfortunately, there's only one.