Interests: Politics, Government, Media, Transportation, Space, Social Media, Civic Engagement, Washington, DC Following: The Obama Presidency, Decision 2012, The 112th Congress Work: myImpact.org- a non-profit working at the intersection of social media & citizen engagement
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
The Evening Report for Friday December 02 2011
32 DAYS UNTIL IOWA
FRIDAY’S EARLY EDITION
TOP STORY: The Labor Department reported this morning that 120,000 jobs were added in the month of November and that the national unemployment rate dropped to 8.6%, the lowest level since early 2009 shortly after President Obama assumed office.
This month’s employment snapshot also found that over 380,000 workers dropped out of the labor market last month, which contributed in part to the decline in the unemployment rate.
After years of sobering economic news, today’s jobs report was a welcome glimmer of hope for many while also a recognition of how far the economy must come to regain the jobs lost during the recession.
The New York Times reports today:
“Somehow the American economy appears to be getting better, even as the rest of the world is looking worse.
In the midst of the European debt crisis, lingering instability in the oil-rich Middle East and concerns about a Chinese economic slowdown, the American unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped last month to 8.6 percent, its lowest level in two and a half years. The nation’s employers modestly increased their hiring, too, the Labor Department said Friday.
The figures come just a few months after economists were warning that the economy’s prospects were waning.
“If you go back to August, all sorts of people were telling us that the economy was headed straight into recession,” said Paul Ashworth, senior United States economist at Capital Economics. “Since that point, we’ve become more and more worried about the euro zone and other areas of the global economy, but somehow, at least for the moment, the U.S. economy seems to be shrugging all that off.”
WALL STREET ended the day nearly unchanged but, thanks to a mid-week rally, logged one of the best weeks in years
FOR THE DAY
- DOW down 0.61 to 12,019
- NASDAQ up 0.73 to 2,627
- S&P 500 down 0.3 to 1,244
FOR THE WEEK
- DOW up 7.01%
- NASDAQ up 7.59%
- S&P 500 up 7.39%
FOR THE YEAR
- DOW up 3.82%
- NASDAQ down 0.98%
- S&P 500 down 1.06%
FACEBOOK today announced that they will be opening an engineering office in New York City, the company and New York officials announced today, to much fanfare. The company, headquartered in Silicon Valley, expects to expand its payroll significantly in 2012 as it prepares to go public. USA Today reports:
“[New York City Mayor Michael] Bloomberg joined Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Sen. Chuck Schumer in making the announcement.
“We want the next Facebook to start in New York,” Bloomberg said.
Schumer called the Facebook announcement a “red-letter day” for the city and a “transformative event.”
Facebook’s NYC office isn’t going to rival its Silicon Valley presence anytime soon. The company’s Madison Avenue hub has just 100 employees currently, compared to 3,000 overall. Facebook now claims more than 800 million members.
The office will open early in 2012 and be led by Serkan Piantino, an engineering manager at Facebook who previously managed the engineering team behind Facebook’s News Feed and built the infrastructure behind Timeline. With the announcement, Facebook is now accepting engineering applicants for New York positions.”
CAMPAIGN 2012:
Newsmax will sponsored a Republican presidential candidates debate on December 27th in Iowa moderated by DONALD TRUMP, it was announced today.
The debate will air on Ion Television, so it is not clear how many people will tune in despite what is expected to be intense curiosity.
However, Jon Huntsman will not be participating, he announced this afternoon, with spokesman Tim Miller saying the campaign “looks forward “to watching Gov Romney suck up to Trump with a big bowl of popcorn.”
HERMAN CAIN is set to make a major announcement on the future of his presidential campaign tomorrow morning during a town-hall meeting in South Carolina. Cain was off the trail today as he met with his wife for the first time since allegations of a 13-year extramarital affair became public this week.
The DES MOINES REGISTER will release their latest poll of the 2012 race in Iowa tomorrow night. And at this point in the race, the DR Poll is one of the most important things to watch.
THE 2011 KENNEDY CENTER HONOREES WERE ANNOUNCED TODAY. The annual awards ceremony, which is one of the highest achievements in the arts, is this Sunday in Washington and will air on CBS on Tuesday December 27th.
This year’s honorees:
- Broadway Star Barbara Cook
- Singer and Song Writer Neil Diamond
- Cellist Yo Yo Ma
- Saxophonist Sonny Rollins
- Actress Meryl Streep
FINALLY (and this weekend’s top talker) the new LADY GAGA music video, Marry The Night, is out. It includes 13 minutes of a naked Gaga pouring herself with cheerios. Here is just some of Sarah Anne Hughes’ review in The Washington Post
“The 13-minute epic opens on Mama Monster in some sort of hospital, bruised up and declaring, “I’m gonna be star. You know why? (Pause for dramatic crying.) Because I have nothing to lose.”
Cut to Gaga as a ballerina, then as a French speaker in a flat getting a call from a “director” who delivers some unspecified bad news. The singer loses her mind — in an artsy way — tearing the apartment apart, covering her naked (but censored) body in cereal and dying her hair in the bathtub.”
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The Evening Report for Monday November 28, 2011
EXCLUSIVE: NEW KOTECKI VIDEO…WOMAN ALLEGES CAIN HAD AFFAIR WITH HER FOR 13 YEARS…MITT V MITT…BARNEY FRANK RETIRES…WALL STREET RISES…ANNE HATHAWAY ENGAGED
36 DAYS UNTIL IOWA
TOP STORY: New sexual allegations against Herman Cain, the one-time GOP front-runner, today. FOX 5 Atlanta reports that a woman, Ginger White, alleges that Cain had an affair with her for 13 years. In what may be a first for politics in the digital media age, Cain preempted the allegations in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this afternoon, denying them before they had even been made public.
CAIN, “I did not have an affair, and until I see and hear exactly what’s going to be, what accusations are going to be made, let’s move on. Here we go again. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
WHITE ON CAIN, “It was fun. It was something that took me away from my humdrum life at the time. And it was exciting.”
And then there is Herman Cain’s lawyer, Lin Wood who, through written statement, drew a distinction between an extra-material affair and Cain’s previous scandal, allegations of sexual harassment.
WOOD, “If any candidate wants to publicly discuss his private sex life, that is his or her life. But I don’t believe that there’s an obligation on the part of any political candidate to do so.”
AN EVENING REPORT EXCLUSIVE: Videoblogger JAMES KOTECKI has a new satirical video on Herman Cain’s Private Affair. You’re seeing it first here tonight.
BEFORE THE CAIN ALLEGATIONS BROKE, the top political story of the day was the Democratic National Committee releasing the sharpest political video yet this cycle, launching a new web site at www.mittvmitt.com and a 4-minute web video that is meant as an “opening trailer” into an attack on Mitt Romney’s character and flip-flop positions- on abortion, assault weapons, TARP, the auto bailout, economic stimulus, health care and immigration. A 30-second television ad tees it up:
ANALYSIS: This shows the DNC and the Obama Campaign are expecting that Romney will eventually be the Republican nominee and are starting their general election attacks against him now. They are also trying to encourage the type of Republican attacks against Romney that, so far, the field has been reluctant to engage in.
GALLUP and RASMUSSEN peg President Obama’s job approval rating at 44% in new polls released today, the same figure as his average for the last six months. Gallup has disapproval at 47%, Rasmussen at 54%.
STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE BARNEY FRANK
“I will not be a candidate for reelection to the House of Representatives in 2012.”
“Our politics has evolved in a way that makes it harder to get anything done at the federal level. I believe that I have been effective as a Member of Congress working inside the process to influence public policy in the ways that I think are important. But I now believe that there is more to be done trying to change things from outside than by working within”
Due to redistricting, the lines of Frank’s district are to be re-drawn to add approximately 325,000 new constituents, a factor that he said impacted his decision. Frank is the 9th Democrat to announce his retirement from the House in 2012.
WALL STREET:
- DOW up 291
- NASDAQ up 86
- S&P 500 up 34
BREAKING TONIGHT: Facebook plans a $10 billion IPO in 2012, the Wall Street Journal was first to report. From Reuters:
“Facebook’s Chief Financial Officer, David Ebersman, had discussed a public float with Silicon Valley bankers but founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg had not decided on any terms and his plans could change, the Journal said.
The social network, which now claims more than 800 million members after seven years of explosive growth, has not selected bankers to manage what would be a very closely watched IPO. But it had drafted an internal prospectus and was ready at any moment to pull the IPO trigger, the Journal cited people familiar with the matter as saying.
A formal S-1 filing could come before the end of the year, though nothing was decided, the newspaper added.
A Facebook representative declined to comment.”
HUFFINGTON POST: Actress Anne Hathaway is engaged to marry her longtime boyfriend, Adam Shulman…The pair, who have been dating for three years, confirmed the news through her representative, Stephen Huvane. In October, it was reported that Hathaway, 29, had moved into Shulman’s apartment in Brooklyn. Hathaway previously dated Raffaello Follieri; the relationship ended after the Italian jewelry designer pled guilty to money laundering, conspiracy and wire fraud.”
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: With 4 minutes left in the 3rd, it’s Saints 28, Giants 10.
The Evening Report for Thursday October 13 2011
HAPPENING NOW: President Obama is hosting a State Dinner at The White House for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. It is the fifth state dinner of the Obama Administration and the third this year. Earlier today, a formal arrival ceremony and joint news conference were held at The White House. Later, President Obama spoke before a Joint Session of the United States Congress. Tomorrow, the two leaders travel to Michigan to tour a manufacturing plant. SOME ATTENDEES AT TONIGHT’S STATE DINNER (as released by The White House this afternoon): UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon CNN’s Candy Crowley Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch Massachusetts Democratic Senator John Kerry Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor Company Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (also on the President’s Jobs Council and hosted a fundraiser for the President in California last month) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack THE MENU (as released by The White House Office of Executive Chef): Butternut Squash Soup “includes squash grown in the White House Kitchen Garden and harvested last week and honey from the White House beehive, plus locally sourced scallions” Early Fall Harvest Salad “includes red and green lettuces grown in the White House Kitchen Garden which are wrapped in daikon sheets and served with masago rice pearl crispies and a sesame vinaigrette as a nod to Korean traditions” Wagyu beef rib eye steaks “from a Texas ranch served with fresh turnip greens from a DC-area source and squash from the White House Kitchen Garden” Classic chocolate cake “layered with a blend of Korean and American pears” OBAMA’S PREVIOUS STATE DINNERS November 24, 2009: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh May 19, 2010: President Felipe Calderon January 19, 2011: President Hu Jintao June 07, 2011: Chancellor Angela Merkel 2012: THE INCUMBENT: The Obama 2012 re-election campaign released fundraising figures for the third quarter today, which beat the campaign’s goal of a $50 million haul. Obama for America reported raising $70 million jointly with the Democratic National Committee from 606,027 donors. The average donation totaled $56. When the report is formally filed with the Federal Elections Commission tomorrow it is expected to surpass the record 16,000 pages of the campaign’s second quarter filing. THE CHALLENGERS: First Jon Huntsman, and then Newt Gingrich, today offered their defense of New Hampshire’s storied First in the Nation presidential primary, with Huntsman saying that he would not campaign in Nevada unless that state changes the date of its caucuses currently scheduled for Saturday 01/14 (it is unclear if that will affect Huntsman’s participation in Tuesday’s debate, in Las Vegas) and Gingrich saying the following in a statement released by his campaign, “As a citizen, I have always supported New Hampshire’s First in the Nation Primary. Now, as a candidate for president, I am committed to competing in and maintaining the first in the nation status of the New Hampshire primary,” he said in a statement. “Therefore, I will not compete in a state which holds its contest inside of one week of New Hampshire” NOTABLE: In today’s joint press conference with Presidents Obama and Lee, FOX News White House Correspondent Ed Henry asked President Obama a question about the foiled Iranian terror plot and quoted Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, which prompted the President to say to Henry “I didn’t realize you were the spokesperson for Mitt Romney.” Later on FOX, Henry explained, “I was trying to put it in the broader context of, not just Mitt Romney, but there are a lot of Republicans out there who have charged that the president leads from behind. This is an opportunity for him to push back on those critics in the context of Iran. I think everyone can see that he decided not to engage with Mitt Romney and decided to kind of come after me a little bit.” IN CONGRESS: Following the passage of three trade agreements and trade adjustment assistance legislation, President Obama placed a telephone call to Speaker of the House John Boehner today. The Speaker’s Office released an unusually detailed readout of the call, as reported in The Hill tonight under the headline, “Boehner confronts Obama on claim GOP has no plan for jobs”: “I want to make sure you have all the facts,” Boehner told the president in the 10-minute call. Boehner “respectfully challenged” Obama on the call, according to the Speaker’s office, reminding him that Republicans have outlined aspects of his jobs plan on which they would work with him. He also noted provisions in the president’s jobs plan, such as the trade deals, that the House has already approved. Boehner’s office said the two also discussed transportation and infrastructure. “The Speaker expressed his desire to do something on the issue, but to do it in a fiscally-responsible way,” Boehner’s office said. WALL STREET THURSDAY: DOW down 43 NASDAQ up 16 S&P 500 down 4 UPDATE: About 10am today, Research in Motion announced that service on the company’s Blackberry network had been restored after an outage that began in Europe, then spread to Asia and Africa, and finally North America, and disrupted service over the past three days. From the latest statement released by the company, “BlackBerry services are operating well globally. BlackBerry Support teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock to ensure ongoing service stability.” FINALLY: The Detroit Tigers chalked up a 7-5 victory against the Texas Rangers today, cutting the Ranger’s lead in the American League Championship Series to 3 games to 2. The Tigers and Rangers will next play Saturday night in Texas. At this hour, the St. Louis Cardinals are hosting the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship. The Cardinals currently lead, 2-0.
The Golden Report for Monday October 03
TOP STORY: ESPN today fired entertainer Hank Williams, Jr. after he compared Pres. Obama to Hitler on the morning show Fox & Friends.
- Watch the video
- ESPN Statement, “While Hank Williams, Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.”
- Williams Statement, “”Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme - but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me - how ludicrous that pairing was.”
THE OTHER TOP STORY: An Italian Appeals Court today threw out the guilty verdict for 24-year old American Amanda Knox, allowing her to leave Italy after nearly four years since being accused of murdering her roommate.
- Statement from the Knox Family, ““We’re thankful that Amanda’s nightmare is over…She suffered for four years for a crime she did not commit.”
- Statement from the Kercher Family- 21-year old Meredith Kucher was killed in 2007, ““We respect the decision of the judges but we do not understand how the decision of the first trial could be so radically overturned…We still trust the Italian justice system and hope that the truth will eventually emerge.”
DEVELOPING IN WASHINGTON: Reports that the Obama Administration was warned- in e-mails from top fundraisers and Administration officials- about the financial problems the Solyndra Corporation was facing before President Obama visited the now-failed solar company’s factories in 2009, touting it an example of a green energy revolution.
Key Quote: “A number of us are concerned that the president is visiting Solyndra,” California investor and Obama fundraiser Steve Westly wrote to Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett in May 2010. “Many of us believe the company’s cost structure will make it difficult for them to survive long term. . . . I just want to help protect the president from anything that could result in negative or unfair press.”, The Washington Post reports
ON WALL STREET: Markets are now at their lowest levels of the year, as the sell-off which ended last week continues
- DOW down 258
- NASDAQ down 80
- S&P 500 down 32
WATCH THIS STORY: The stock of AMERICAN AIRLINES’ parent group was down over 40 percent today on fears that the iconic airline may be preparing to file for bankruptcy protection
SOUTH CAROLINA today announced that its 2012 Republican Primary will be held on Saturday January 21, ten days before Florida. This sets into motion a scramble to fit in Nevada, New Hampshire and Iowa before the Palmetto State. Here is the likely order:
- IOWA Caucus: Monday January 02
- NEW HAMPSHIRE Primary: Tuesday January 10
- NEVADA Caucus: Saturday January 14
- SOUTH CAROLINA Primary: Saturday January 21
- FLORIDA Primary: Saturday January 31
NEW CBS NEWS POLL: President Obama Job Approval Rating 44%, Disapprove 44%
NEW GALLUP POLL: President Obama Job Approval Rating: 43%, Disapprove 49%
NEW RASMUSSEN POLL: President Obama Job Approval Rating: 44%, Disapprove 54%
AVERAGE OF RECENT POLLS: President Obama Job Approval Rating: 43%, Disapprove 50% (according to Real Clear Politics)
YAHOO today announced a digital content sharing partnership with ABC News, a move which the companies estimate will reach 100 million people online.
“This new venture blends ABC News’ global newsgathering operation and unrivaled lineup of trusted anchors and reporters with Yahoo! News’ unmatched audience, depth and breadth of content. Beginning today, GoodMorningAmerica.com, launches on Yahoo! along with three new online-first video series hosted by the award-winning, trusted anchors of ABC News,” a statement from the two companies says
Video of the announcement, which took place on Good Morning America today, with the new tagline, “It’s Time to See The Whole Picture”
FINALLY: Sean Parker, the founder of Napster and founding President of Facebook today joined Twitter, tweeting at @SParker. His first 140-character message? “Sorry Zuck, I had to do it eventually. (Actually @scooterbraun made me do it.)” As of tonight, he has over 16,000 followers and is following 129
The Golden Report for Monday September 26
JUST IN: POLITICO’s Mike Allen is reporting that WH Deputy Senior Advisor Stephanie Cutter will leave the West Wing at the end of the year to move to Chicago and become to Obama 2012 “deputy campaign manager overseeing communications, press, policy and research, with responsibility for managing the long-term message plan”
Cutter was born 10/28/1968 in Taunton, Massachusetts. A graduate of Smith College and Georgetown Law, she has worked as Deputy Communications Director for President Clinton, Communications Director for Sen. Ted Kennedy and the Democratic National Committee and was Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama during the 2008 campaign. At the White House, she was chiefly in charge of messaging strategy for the year-long health care reform effort.
HEALTH REFORM: Today the Justice Department declined an opportunity to have the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals review a ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. In August, a 3-judge panel of the Court ruled the law’s individual mandate section to be unconstitutional. The Administration could have had the full Court issue a ruling, but this decision sets up a likely Supreme Court decision as early as this coming term. The 6th and 4th Circuit Courts of Appeals have ruled the law constitutional and a ruling is still pending in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
SHUTDOWN AVERTED?: Tonight the Senate voted 79-12 on a stopgap budget resolution which would keep the government funded through the middle of November, provided for additional funding for FEMA and avert a government shutdown by allowing the House to approve the funding in two waves- through next Tuesday (which would happen via voice vote in a pro forma session) and then by recorded vote through November. The level of funding for FEMA- $2.65B- is less than Senate Democrats had wanted- but the bill does not include the additional cuts in domestic discretionary spending that some Republicans demanded. Earlier today, FEMA announced they had enough funding to last through the end of the week- enough cover for a deal that has the auspices of bi-partisanship to be reached.
NEW CNN/ORC POLL (with changes from last survey):
President Obama Job Approval Rating: Approve: 45% (+2), Disapprove: 52% (-3)
ON WALL STREET: News from Europe that discussions were underway to expand borrowing authority as a potential solution to the Euro Zone debt crisis (although nothing has been confirmed) was enough to reverse last Thursday’s losses.
ALSO.. “A technical issue kept the Dow from accurately updating for 12 minutes at the beginning of trading in New York. The index opened flat as its component stocks and other indexes rose in the minutes after the opening bell” the New York Times reports
PRESIDENT OBAMA was in Mountain View, CA today for the LinkedIn Town Hall Meeting and is in Los Angeles and San Diego tonight for DNC fundraisers. Tomorrow, he’ll be in Denver.
WATCH THIS VIDEO the National Park Service released today- showing tourists racing down the stairs inside the Washington Monument at the time of last month’s 5.8 magnitude earthquake- as debris from the Monument fall from the ceiling. The Park Service said today that they have been assessing the damage since the quake and that the Monument will remain closed for an indefinite period of time.
FINALLY.. FACEBOOK FORMS A POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE: From Spokesperson Andrew Noyes (an American University alum!) “FB PAC will give our employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process by supporting candidates who share our goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy while giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” And- fun fact- Facebook’s COO Sharyl Standberg, who hosted last night’s fundraiser for President Obama attended by a who’s-who of Hollywood, including Lady Gaga, was mentioned four separate times in POLITICO’s Playbook this morning. For more on Standberg- see this New Yorker profile from earlier this year.
The Evening Report for Wednesday September 21
BREAKING NEWS- SUPREME COURT DENIES STAY OF EXECUTION FOR TROY DAVIS- Within the past few minutes, the Supreme Court has issued a decision in the case of Troy Davis, the Georgia inmate who is scheduled to be put to death tonight by lethal injection for the 1989 murder of an off-duty police officer. The Court has refused to issue a stay of the execution. Prison officials have not yet said whether the execution will go forward as planned tonight, but that is expected. CBS is reporting there were no dissents in the decision, which was issued by Justice Clarence Thomas, of Georgia. For the past few days public attention has been focused on the Davis case- it increased through the day as first a Circuit Court, then the State Supreme Court and now the US Supreme Court have rejected emergency appeals.
TOP STORY- The House of Representatives failed this afternoon to adopt a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded beyond next Saturday’s end of the fiscal year. 48 Republicans joined a majority of Democrats in voting against the CR. Opposition came from Democrats for two reasons: a lower level of funding for FEMA than the Senate has proposed- and an offset that would pay for that increased funding by scrapping grants for a renewable energy program. Conservative Republican opposition came because the CR actually sets a higher level of annual spending than the original House passed FY2012 budget, but is consistent with the bi-partisan discretionary spending caps agreed to in the Budget Control Act of August. Congressional leaders still have over a week to come to a resolution on the funding dispute to prevent a shutdown- but today’s vote was a rare public defeat for the House Speaker, John Boehner
FREE AT LAST- Americans Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, jailed in 2009 after hiking across the Iranian border, were released from Iranian custody this morning and have now been reunited with their families in the Arab nation of Oman. They were detained on July 31, 2009; a third hiker, Sarah Shroud, Bauer’s fiance, was also detained in 2009 and released almost a year ago. Eight days ago, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC’s Ann Curry in an interview that the hikers would be released “in a mater of days,” and this action comes one day before Ahmadinejad is scheduled to address the Untied Nations General Assembly in New York. Bauer and Fatel, now both 29, first met and became friends at the University of California Berkeley
STATEMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT: “I welcome the release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal from detention in Iran and am very pleased that they are being reunited with their loved ones. The tireless advocacy of their families over these two years has won my admiration, and is now coming to an end with Josh and Shane back in their arms. All Americans join their families and friends in celebrating their long-awaited return home.”
DEVELOPING TONIGHT- The United States continues to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority over their plans to introduce a measure asking for statehood recognition at the UN on Friday. France has joined the United States in pressuring Palestine to drop their proposal and rejoin negotiations with Israel- with France proposing a new one-year negotiation deadline, that the Palestinian Authority has rejected. President Obama met with both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders today- and also addressed the General Assembly, saying, “One year ago, I stood at this podium and I called for an independent Palestine. I believed then, and I believe now, that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own. But what I also said is that a genuine peace can only be realized between the Israelis and the Palestinians themselves.”
A BUSY DAY FOR THE PRESIDENT- who held meetings with the leaders of ISRAEL, JAPAN, THE UNITED KINGDOM and FRANCE, addressed the UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, a luncheon hosted by Secretary-General BAN KI-MOON, and went across town to deliver a speech at the CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE. He has just left a UN LEADER RECEPTION with the First Lady at the NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY and was driven my motorcade to JFK Airport because bad weather grounded Marine One. The President will return to the White House overnight.
TOMORROW, the President travels to OHIO to stand on a bridge on the OHIO/KENTUCKY Border to highlight an infrastructure project that would be funded in the American Jobs Act. Ohio is the home state of Speaker Boehner; Kentucky the home state of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The FEDERAL RESERVE announced today a plan to invest $400 billion in long-term Treasury Securities over the next 9 months, a stimulus measure designed to increase economic growth and a sign that the Central Bank does not see another option for the struggling American economy. From the Fed Statement, “Growth remains slow. Recent indicators point to continuing weakness in overall labor market conditions and the unemployment rate remains elevated..Household spending has been increasing at only a modest pace in recent months.” The lower interest rates are meant to spur investments, but, as the New York Times reports, “The new effort is an experiment without a direct precedent, although the Fed tried something similar in the 1960s. Essentially, the Fed hopes to drive down rates not by expanding its portfolio, as it has done twice in recent years, but by shifting its money into riskier long-term investments.”
WALL STREET responded to the move by the Federal Reserve:
- DOW down 283 to 11,124
- NASDAQ down 52
- S&P 500 down 35
WHAT WE MISSED ON TUESDAY- President Obama will travel to Mountain View, CA next week for the First Presidential LinkedIn Town Hall Meeting. Previously, the President has used YouTube, Facebook and Twitter as platforms to answer questions directly from Americans, online
CORRECTION FROM TUESDAY- In last night’s final item on the acquisition of social networking platform Ning, I misstated the terms of an earlier deal- that of MySpace. As an eagle-eyed reader pointed out: “NewsCorp sold MySpace for $35M (and it was actually plus a 5% stake in Specific Media). NewsCorps originally bought MySpace for $580M (although only $327M was attributed to MySpace as the $580M was for its parent company)”
RUMORS- Hewlett Packard may be considered Meg Whitman, the former Chief Executive of eBay- and 2010 California Republican Gubernatorial Candidate, as its next CEO
2012:
- A must-watch campaign video released online by the Perry Campaign today (already has nearly 35,000 YouTube views) depicts President Obama as “President Zero”- using Obama’s words, as a candidate and President, against him and overlaid with the recent news of no new jobs created in August and record poverty rates
- A McClatchy/Marist Poll that everyone is talking about: Obama 49%/ Palin 44%
- Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson has cracked 1% in the polls and thus has claimed a spot in tomorrow night’s Republican Presidential Candidates Debate, sponsored by FOX News and Google, in Orlando.
THREE THINGS TO WATCH in the debate, the third in as many weeks:
1/ The Romney attack on Perry. It was more difficult than expected last week because of a Tea Party audience. Will Romney come out swinging at Perry? Which issues he decides to attack on will show the areas he believes Perry remains vulnerable2/ Can any of the other 7 candidates break through what has been deemed a two-man race? Any signs of traction by a second or third tier candidate will attract a lot of attention. 3/ Which candidate will be the first to mention the $16 Muffin?
FINALLY- Facebook unveiled significant changes to its platform today, a move that has sparked anxiety and angst among some users. According the Facebook, the changes come in order to make the News Feed- on the Home Page- continually interesting. “Now, News Feed will act more like your own personal newspaper. You won’t have to worry about missing important stuff. All your news will be in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top,” Facebok’s Mark Tonkelowitz blogs. Among the other changes: a real-time ticker of friend updates on the right hand bar, a wider photo display (with higher resolutions) and faster photo upload times.
AND COMING TOMORROW: Watch for Facebook Music to be announced
