FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace began by interviewing Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). McCain declared the budget to be massive generational theft, said we should let more banks fail and GM enter bankruptcy, and promised to help Obama’s housing plan pass.

Next Wallace spoke with Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA), the new Chairman of the DNC. Kaine defended Treasury Secretary Geithner and walked through four elements of Obama’s plan to solve the financial crisis, and said the financial rescue will be more difficult than an economic stimulus plan because it must be globally coordinated.

George Stephanopoulos hosted a roundtable of Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), and President Tom Donohue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on ABC’s This Week. McCaskill said to be patient and let the stimulus package realize effects and that there is a psychological lag to the state of the economy. Shelby declared TARP a failure and said we must not have a TARP II. Donohue disagreed, noting that TARP’s main objective was injecting liquidity, which he said succeeded. Bayh argued that a company too big to fail must operate under a different set of rules and also that the budget bill is too large.

Host David Gregory met with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on NBC’s Meet the Press. Graham began lauding the Fed’s TALF plan to get credit flowing again. Schumer walks through three main points of Obama’s economic recovery plan – stimulus, foreclosure abatement, and financial reform – and blamed the severity of this mess on consumer confidence and eight years of spending more than we earned.

Schumer described two types of nationalization – good nationalization and bad nationalization – and said Republicans are touting the policies of Herbert Hoover and want to return to the “Reagan days.”  Despite having 37 earmarks, Graham wants the spending bill to be vetoed because of earmarks.

White House Budget Director Peter Orszag was first on the lineup for host Bob Schieffer on CBS’s Face the Nation. Orszag described the GOP alternative to the budget as one of tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, a Medicare program that covers 80% of healthcare cost, and a social security plan that invests in the stock market. He said the Obama administration is like a “relief pitcher stepping into the ninth inning” with the 2009 budget and that they will start fresh with the 2010 budget.

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) was Schieffer’s other guest. He said the government needs to lead by example by freezing spending.

Read More →

FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace first interviewed Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen on Obama’s troop withdrawal plan, North Korea, and Obama’s relationship with the Pentagon Brass. Most notably, Adm. Mullen said he didn’t know where Obama got last week’s estimate that winding down the war in Iraq will save $183 billion this year and that he had never seen the figure before.

Wallace next interviewed Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to discuss the budget. Ryan said the GOP will propose a full alternative budget in April and that the tax hikes proposed for 2011 still hinders job creation in 2009 in anticipation of this higher cost. Kyl defended his $118 million of earmarks, argued that the GOP should no longer be slapped on the hand for their atrocious spending record while in power, and that Obama’s budget adds more government debt than the cumulative sum of debt incurred from 1789 until the end of the Bush presidency.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, host David Gregory discussed with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates the US policy in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and his relationship with Obama. Gates described the mission in Iraq as very different and “principally a training, assistance, and advisory role.” He discussed a few hot spots in Iraq, called Russia a “real challenge” that they don’t understand, and said it would be a “challenge” to stay for Obama’s entire first term.

On CBS’s Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer interviewing White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel disapproved of the 9,000 earmarks in the budget bill but said Obama will sign it. He called the budget “honest” about the cost of the war and asked if Republicans will continue to subsidize a broken health care system, the oil industry, and the banking industry instead of helping kids go to college.

Emanuel also called the accusation that energy costs will rise under a cap and trade system a “scare tactic” and said 95% of Americans will receive a tax cut. Finally, he said General Motors failed because it produced gas guzzlers and had an outdated health care cost structure.

OMB Director Peter Orszag gave an embarrassing display on ABC’s This Week, failing to explain a key assumption of the budget’s deficit reduction plan, something he is responsible for as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Go below the jump to read more about his embarrassing and opaque remarks.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) wrapped up FTN by saying we can’t afford trillions of dollars or more debt, small business people want job growth not wealth transfers, he disagrees with Rush Limbaugh that Obama should fail, and that we need to return to a party of inclusion and work together to produce real solutions.

Read More →

FOX News Sunday (FNS): Host Chris Wallace will first talk to Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen on Obama’s plans for a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Wallace next brings in Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to discuss the budget.

This Week (ABC): Host George Stephanopoulos talks to OMB Director Peter Orszag and Republican Whip Eric Cantor, likely about Obama’s proposed budget. Karl Rove also joins Steph’s roundtable.

Meet the Press (NBC): Moderator David Gregory interviews Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for his first TV interview as a member of Obama’s administration.

Face the Nation (CBS): Host Bob Schieffer will speak with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

News of the week likely to be discussed:

• Barack Obama’s speech to Congress
• The budget
• Obama’s policy to withdraw from Iraq
• The US taking a substantial ownership stake in Citigroup
• The North Korean Missile Crisis

Two topics I hope the moderators bring up:

• The wisdom of proposing tax hikes during the worst month for the market since 1933
• Chuck Schumer’s proposal to force states to accept stimulus funds against their wishes

FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace began the Sunday Shows with an interview of Republican Govs. Mark Sanford (SC) and Tim Pawlenty (MN) and Democratic Govs. Ed Rendell (PA) and Jennifer Granholm (PA). Sanford defended his opposition to receiving bailout funds saying the government doesn’t create jobs and the strings attached to the funds earmarked for unemployment cost are unacceptable. The other governors plan to accept the money, Rendell and Granholm both enthusiastically.

Gov. Rendell admitted we may not be able to afford the long-term cost of the stimulus plan, but said he doesn’t mind because his people are suffering. Sanford quickly reminded Rendell that it was similar short-term thinking that caused this mess.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and host David Gregory discussed Jindal’s refusal to accept portions of the stimulus money his state is eligible to receive, such as $100 million for unemployment cost, citing the long-term impact of the strings attached to be higher business taxes. Gregory and Jindal moved to a debate over a supply-side, tax-cut-focused plan versus a demand-side plan that emphasizes spending. Jindal points out that job growth and productivity comes from private industry and not government.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist was next on MTP, emphasizing his disagreement with Jindal on the stimulus plan and lauded it as a way to help Florida. Crist was much cooler on Obama’s plan to stem foreclosures, calling it a “good start” but refuses to support the proposal until he gets more details.

CBS’s Face the Nation began with host Bob Schieffer interviewing Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan who described the three parts of the plan to halt foreclosures – lowered mortgage rates via a backstop to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, refinancing underwater mortgages, and loan modifications. He said the plan is based on the notion that these mortgage issues need to be worked out prior to bankruptcy.

Schieffer next interviewed Govs. John Corzine (D-NJ), Ted Strickland (D-OH), and Mitch Daniels (R-IN). Daniels refused to take a position on the stimulus plan, saying its not his role to criticize either side. Corzine remarked that the stimulus will make a “big difference” in the economy, and Strickland said he’s happy to receive the stimulus funds. On the auto bailout, Strickland said that even Honda has lobbied for government assistance for their competitors.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger concluded the Sunday Shows with his appearance eon ABC’s This Week. The Governor and host George Stephanopoulos discussed Schwarzenegger’s attempts to be nonpartisan with a push for open primaries, his bipartisan support of the Obama stimulus plan, and his philosophy that it “doesn’t really matter if you’re a Republican or Democrat.”

Read More →

Promoted from the diaries by Jeff. Well done, timetolead.

FOX News Sunday Host Chris Wallace launched this week’s round of talk shows, speaking with Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod who claimed the stimulus package will improve the unemployment situation, or slow its ascent, but also admitted that aspects of the stimulus may not have an immediate effect.

Next up for Wallace was Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Moody’s Economist.com Chief Economist Mark Zandi. Both were thankful for the Savior’s Obama’s quick action, though Zandi lamented the relatively small size of the stimulus package. Zandi thinks Obama over-estimates its impact, creating 2 or 2.5 million jobs rather than the 3.5 million the administration claims. Finally, Zandi thinks lower mortgage payments through interest rate reductions won’t be enough to bolster the housing market descent and that principal reductions are necessary.

Round Two for Axelrod took place on NBC’s Meet the Press where he repeated many of the same talking points from FNS. Gregory hammered him on the Buy America provisions and Axelrod just repeated, “The language is consistent with our treaties.” Axelrod also affirmed Obama’s desire to maintain a private banking sector.

On CBS’s Face the Nation, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the President shares the country’s outrage over executive compensation on Wall Street, but when asked whether Obama plans to enforce Congress’s tougher restrictions, Gibbs just replied: Obama is going to sign the bill into law.

Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Richard Shelby followed Mr. Gibbs on FTN, with Frank offering a meek defense of Geithner’s vague financial rescue plan and Shelby claiming Geithner wasted four hours of the Senate’s time.

Finally, ABC’s This Week consisted of a roundtable of Sens. Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham and Reps. Peter King and Maxine Waters. The group discussed the stimulus package, with Schumer lauding the bill, Graham and King deriding its partisan taste and lack of tax cuts, and Waters praising the three Republicans who broke ranks to support the stimulus package. Next the group discussed the possibility of bank nationalization, with both Democrats sounding more wary of the idea than the Republicans.

Read More →