President Barack Obama speaks at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014 in Bethesda, Md.(AP)
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Buzz Cut: Obama to go bold on post-presidential buck raking White House rolls out unwelcome wagon for Carter Harkin seconds Schumer: ObamaCare a mistake Doubts grow about Hillary At least theyre not doing it when they order the steak
OBAMA TO GO BOLD ON POST-PRESIDENTIAL BUCK RAKINGConservatives believe that President Obama plans to close his time in office as a modern Emperor Nero, expanding executive power grabs and driving the nation into a constitutional abyss. So why are liberals still having a debate over whether Obama is bold enough? Part of that is just that some folks are never satisfied, but theres something substantive here too. After all, it seems odd that a president who has often talked about the liberation of having run his last campaign is doing things like nominating Wall Street insiders skilled at tax avoidance to key economic posts, still holding fundraisers and, most notably, standing by laughable choices for key diplomatic posts?
[Ummmm - At her nomination hearing, Obamas nominee to be ambassador to Hungary, a former producer of the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, struggled to name a single U.S. strategic interest in Hungary. A real stumper, no doubt.]
The real fiscal cliff - The answer lies in a key deadline approaching at the end of next week. No, not the potential government shutdown, but instead a personal one for the president. The formal proposals for where his presidential library are said to be due on Dec. 11, and BuzzFeed reports that the process is intensifying and the scope is expanding ahead of an expected February announcement. The University of Hawaii, The University of Illinois Chicago campus, Obamas alma mater Columbia University and frontrunner The University of Chicago are under consideration. Obamas closest adviser, Valerie Jarrett, has made it clear that she is in charge of establishing the post-presidency version of the Obama brand, so it seems unlikely that the HQ will be anywhere but Chicago.
Bigger than Bubba - And while the Obamas are no doubt keen to have as many donors as possible ponying up to build the monument to his legacy, we now live in the post-Clinton age when the financial value of having been president is measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The Obamas, who have learned to live very well indeed since leaving their upper-middle-class life behind in Chicago, must assume they can outshine their predecessors, post-White House. Bill Clinton and his first lady could rake in $150 million in straight cash plus an estimated half-billion dollars for a family foundation which helps provide staff, support and travel. Could the Obama brand be a billion-dollar industry? Why not? As Obama gets ready for his post-presidency, he will feel the continuing tension between a desire to be bold and legacy-making and a competing impulse for preemptive nest feathering. Sucking up to really rich people will be a big part of that. As the Clintons have proven, there are plenty of patrons at home and abroad for a former president.
MCCONNELL TALKS UP BUTT KICKING AHEAD OF WHISKEY SUMMITWSJ: Sen.Mitch McConnell(R., Ky.) on Tuesday said PresidentBarack Obamahas lurched to the left since suffering a butt-kicking during Novembers midterm elections, a shift that may foreshadow only limited cooperation in the coming two years. By any objective standard the president got crushed in this election, Mr. McConnell said atThe Wall Street Journal CEO Council annual meeting. So Ive been perplexed by the reaction since the election, the sort of in your face dramatic move to the left. I dont know what we can expect in terms of reaching bipartisan agreement. Republicans took control of Congress during Novembers midterm elections, leaving Democrats without a majority in either chamber for the first time since 2006 and elevating Mr. McConnell to Senate majority leader starting in JanuaryMr. McConnell said he has no objection to negotiating with the White House and gets along with Mr. Obama. We dont have any personal problems, he said. There is however a deep philosophical difference.
[President Obama and Sen. Mitch McConnell are scheduled to meet at the White House this afternoon.]
Boehners second step - WaPo: [House Speaker John Boehners] approach would first allow a vote this week on a bill to ban Obama from changing immigration laws. The largely symbolic legislation would be quickly discarded by the Democratic-controlled Senate, but the vote would be seen as a victory by some tea party conservatives, including the bills lead sponsor, Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.). The speakers decision to embrace Yohos bill is a signal to conservatives that he is looking to one of their own as he plots his immigration gambit.
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Obama to go bold on post-presidential buck raking