There has been a lot of talk in the blogosphere about Obama's choices for his National Security Team. Here is a small sample.

"A Progressive Case for Gates" - Maz Bergmann, Huffington Post

The appointment of Secretary Gates is sure to irk many progressives - and for good reason. Gates was a part of the Bush administration, he oversaw the implementation of the President's "surge" strategy, and has supported missile defense...[but] Gates has advocated some very bold progressive reforms during the last couple of years. He has broken with the Rumsfeld emphasis on military transformation and has repeatedly talked about the need for the Pentagon to move away from procuring unnecessary weapons that are hugely expensive and have little strategic role...

Gates, as a Republican holdover in a Democratic administration, has an aura of bi-partisanship that makes him much more difficult to attack.

President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush sat down with Charlie Gibson to reflect on the Bush presidency, the current state of the country and achievements and failures. Here's part one of the interview:



Gibson immediately got down to business and asked about the economy, with questions such as, "When you add it all up, you've got about $7.5 trillion in funded and unfunded backing of securities now... Does that scare the willikers out of you?"

Bush stated that he was confident that the economy would recover. When asked if he felt responsible, he responded, "...a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived."

Gibson moved onto looking back on the past eight years and asked, "What don't the American people know about being President?"

Today in Washington, President-elect Barack Obama unveiled his national security team, calling for "a new dawn of American leadership."



Here is the lineup:

Senator Hillary Clinton (NY) - Secretary of State
Current Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates - Defense Secretary (will keep his post for now)
Former NATO Commander Gen. James L. Jones - National Security Adviser
Gov. Janet Napolitano (AZ) - Secretary of Homeland Security
Foreign Policy Expert Susan E. Rice - Ambassador to the United Nations
U.S. Attorney and former Judge on the D.C. Superior Court Eric H. Holder, Jr. - Attorney General

It's official: the United States has been in a recession for a year now, the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed today.

From NY Times...

The committee noted that the contraction in the labor market began in the first month of 2008 and said that the declines in most major indicators, like personal income, manufacturing activity, retail sales, and industrial production, "met the standard for a recession."

The announcement came as the stock market fell sharply, its first decline in five sessions. The Dow Jones industrial average was off more than 450 points or 5.1 percent by afternoon trading. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 6.1 percent.

This is the first official recession since 2001, when the economy suffered after the bursting of the technology bubble. The period of expansion lasted 73 months, from November 2001 to December 2007.

As you all know, the government has already issued a number of bailouts to help bolster the economy. What else can the government or corporations do? What responsibility should the average citizen have? Let us know in your comments below.

Back in August of 2007, Senator Obama made a promise to "close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions Act, and adhere to the Geneva Conventions." Just recently, Obama has reiterated that promise, pleasing human and civil rights groups like ACLU. Obama has promised to move hundreds of detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison to the U.S. where they will be given legal hearings, trials or face special terrorist courts that have yet to be established.

This powerful video by Brave New Films and ACLU tells about Gitmo's reputation as a "torture camp" and the degradation of standards of justice at the prison.



Let us know what you think in the comments.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that an $800 billion stimulus package would be used to make more lending available to consumers. About $600 billion will be used to buy up mortgage-backed securities while $200 billion will be for unfreezing the consumer credit market.

From BBC News...

The announcement came as Commerce Department figures showed US economic output shrank between July and September at a faster pace than initially predicted, which the White House described as "troubling."

GDP fell at an annual rate of 0.5% in the third-quarter - from the 0.3% estimated a month ago - as consumers cut spending by the largest amount in 28 years.

"This is why we are having to take such bold actions," a White House spokeswoman said.

While at least there is a plan as to how to use this money, does the government have a limit to the number of stimulus and bailout packages? It seems like they're giving them out at least once a week...

With the Bush administration quickly coming to a close, President Bush has issued fourteen pardons and commuted two prison sentences. No household names such as, say, Scooter Libby, but then again, he still has about two months left.

Some of the pardoned include:

- Leslie Owen Collier for unauthorized use of a pesticide and violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act,
- Milton Kirk Cordes for conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits the importation of wildlife,
- Carey C. Hice Sr. for income tax evasion,
- Daniel Figh Pue III for illegal treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste without a permit, and
- Geneve Yvonne Hogg for bank embezzlement.

Incidentally, President Bush has used his power to pardon very lightly throughout his administration, granting a total of 171 pardons and 8 commutations. This may seem like a high number, but it is less than half as many as President Clinton or Reagan issued during their two-term presidencies.

Once again the federal government decided to rescue a flailing corporation. This time it provided $20 billion to save Citigroup Inc. The company had shown signs of trouble, with massive layoffs occurring last week. But with the bailout, Citigroup shares rose 58 percent on Monday.

What do you think? Is it worth having the government swoop in to save corporations with our tax dollars in order to keep the stock market afloat?



Posted by Natasha G on 11.24.08

Today President-elect Barack Obama unveiled his economic team, created to tackle the economic crisis.

From CNN...

"I've sought leaders who could offer both sound judgment and fresh thinking, both a depth of experience and a wealth of bold, new ideas, and most of all who share my fundamental belief that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street without a thriving Main Street," Obama said at a press conference Monday in Chicago.

Their responsibilities include overseeing the dispersal of the $700 billion bailout package and creating and preserving a targeted 2.5 million new jobs over the next two years.

His team includes:

Happy Friday! This week Eric raves about the amazing donor turnout for President Elect Obama while he was campaigning, and his skillful use of the internet to expand the reach of his campaign.

He rants about the auto industry and their efforts to get a piece of the bailout pie without taking responsibility for the need to change their practices and management (and flying in to testify in a private jet). Let us know what you think in the comments!