Los Angeles Times

Bill Richardson is confortable with Pay to Play

With an almost audible sigh of relief barely two weeks before his inauguration Obama, in a printed statement that won’t provide archival video footage, said he accepted the resignation-before-actually-taking-office “with deep regret.”

And 16 days before becoming president, Obama sought to turn the PR smudge and federal probe of Richardson, his first Latino Cabinet pick, and his government into a patriotic plus: “It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time.”

It may also be a measure of the inadequacy of the new Obama administration’s vetting process that it somehow missed or ignored the ongoing and widely-reported grand jury testimony over alleged incidents in 2004 in New Mexico, part of a broad federal investigation of selling state services. It would seem to be an obvious something for the experienced Richardson to include when completing the 63-page questionaire given to potential Obama appointees.

By Robert Pear, New York Times

Obama and Team will overturn Supreme Court

President-elect Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are planning swift action to overturn a Supreme Court decision that made it much harder for people to challenge discrimination in employment, education, housing and other fields.

The decision, involving a woman named Lilly M. Ledbetter, who had accused her employer of sex-based pay discrimination, was issued in May 2007. Since then, courts around the country have gone far beyond the facts of that case and cited it as a reason for rejecting lawsuits claiming discrimination based on race, sex, age and disability.

In some cases, after initially ruling for employees, judges have reversed themselves and ruled in favor of employers. The judges said they had to switch because of the Supreme Court decision.

by Frank James, Chicago Tribune

Obama and advisors bumble with Richardson

My first thought on hearing that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had asked President-elect Obama to drop his nomination as Commerce Secretary because of a federal probe into possible pay to play activity in Richardson’s office was “Uh-oh, don’t tell me Obama has some pay-to-play curse that will be following his presidency like a hungry stray dog.”

The scandal involving Gov. Rod Blagojevich in Illinois is, of course, about the governor’s alleged pay-to-play activities including the charge in a federal criminal complaint that he sought to auction off Obama’s vacant Senate seat. First Illinois, now New Mexico. You’re almost afraid to ask what state comes next?

My follow-up thought was that Richardson’s move obviously calls into question the quality of the, ahem, “vetting process” that the Obama team conducted. How did Richardson, an old baseball player, ever to first base with a huge problem like this hanging out there?

Ben Lieberman, The Washington Times

How does $8-a-gallon gas sound? Few Americans would want to see that happen. Unfortunately, President-elect Barack Obama’s choices for the governments two highest energy posts have expressed a surprising level of comfort with sky-high gas prices.

As if that weren’t bad enough, the incoming Obama administration and new Congress have suggested they may reverse the pro-domestic oil drilling measures enacted since last summer. It is starting to look as though the change coming to Washington will bring bad news at the pump in the years ahead.

By Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes greet Obama and Michelle

Hollywood has long maintained a mutual love affair with the presidency. John F. Kennedy was famously friendly with Marilyn Monroe, who serenaded him with “Happy birthday, Mr. President,” and his father, Joseph, financed movie studios and dallied with Gloria Swanson.

The entertainment biz begat Ronald Reagan and embraced Bill Clinton, who returned its affection. Barack Obama’s historic presidential drive took a great leap forward in early 2007 when David Geffen publicly dissed Hillary Clinton around the time Geffen and his DreamWorks partners, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, threw a $1.3 million fundraiser for Obama.

After eight years of George W. Bush, Hollywood is eager to embrace a president that it passionately backed. But does that mark a return to the Clinton years, when the White House’s Lincoln Bedroom had a revolving-door policy for such star supporter/donors as Barbra Streisand, Tom Hanks, Ted Danson, Chevy Chase, Spielberg and Geffen? Or will Obama keep the celebrity crowd at more of an arm’s distance, as he did for much of his campaign?

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Israel is worried Obama will side with Arabs

By Ralph Peters, NY Post

AS WORLD leaders and international organizations rush to rescue Hamas, Israel faces complex battlefield challenges - while fearing a stab in the back from the incoming Obama administration.

Israel’s leaders are asking themselves two questions: Is the cost of sending sufficient ground forces into Gaza just too high? And, upon his inauguration on Jan. 20, will President Obama undercut Israel’s counterterror offensive before its goals have been reached?

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Barack Obama and his friends get ready for the big payoff

By Klaus Marre, The Hill

Ahead of the beginning of the 111th Congress, President-elect Obama on Saturday urged lawmakers to quickly pass a massive stimulus bill.

“Nearly two million Americans have lost their jobs this past year – and millions more are working harder in jobs that pay less and come with fewer benefits,” Obama said in his weekly radio address. “For too many families, this new year brings new unease and uncertainty as bills pile up, debts continue to mount and parents worry that their children won’t have the same opportunities they had.”

The president-elect, who will meet with congressional leaders next week to discuss the measure, said lawmakers from both parties would have to join together to jumpstart the ailing economy.

By Star Parker, Worldnetdaily

Rick Warren hugs friend Barack Obama

Last August I wrote a column critical of Rick Warren’s decision to host a presidential candidate forum at his Saddleback Church.

My reasoning then was that America’s crisis is moral ambiguity. I argued that Pastor Warren would only contribute to this ambiguity by hosting candidates with opposing views on issues such as abortion and homosexuality and presenting himself as a neutral moderator.

Only Barack Obama would gain, I felt, being showcased as an acceptable candidate by one of the nation’s best-known evangelical pastors. If John McCain wanted to clarify his social conservative credentials, he didn’t need to go to Rick Warren’s church with Barack Obama to do it.

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By John Kass, Chicago Tribune

The media would have you believe Barack Obama's heart is as pure as Mr. Tumnus

President-elect Barack Obama was not found as an infant, floating in a reed basket along the banks of the Chicago River. He is not the gentle faun, the Mr. Tumnus, of the Daley machine. Obama could have forcefully and publicly demanded that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and fellow Illinois Democrats support legislation for a special election to fill his vacated Senate seat. Obama had a responsibility to the people of Illinois to do so. But he kept his mouth shut. As always, he avoided conflict with machine political bosses, a consistent character trait stubbornly ignored by his media cheerleaders. 

His top White House strategist and his chief of staff are creatures of the Daley machine, and Democrats didn’t want to risk the Senate seat. What happened to the promise of transcending the old politics?