By Norman Kelley

Watching President Obama speaking at the GOP’s retreat today in Baltimore underscored why it is important for the US Congress to institute a practice of the British Parliament: Prime Minister’s Questions, a process by which members of Parliament can ask the Prime Minister or members of his government questions.

Having the President appear before the political opposition to answer questions — being accountable to the political representatives of the electorate — could be one way to ensure a healthy debate about real public issues and problems. This could be a way to re-build that shopworn concept of bipartisanship.   And it wouldn’t be a bad idea  if the president appeared at a monthly press conference, too — something else the British PM does.

I came late to watching the MSNBC video stream, but Obama is masterful in his ability to answer detailed policy questions while challenging Republicans who described his healthcare agenda as something from a “Bolshevik.” (more…)

This bit from the New York Times‘ Sewell Chan’s article on Ben Bernanke’s Senate confirmation is pretty interesting:

In several hours of debate, senators said that the Fed had abetted, then ignored, the housing and credit bubbles and allowed banks to keep dangerously low capital reserves and to make reckless lending decisions that ruined consumers. Some even blamed Mr. Bernanke for the falling dollar and questioned his commitment to free enterprise.

In contrast, Mr. Bernanke’s supporters were muted. They reiterated that the Fed had made mistakes but said that Mr. Bernanke had helped save the economy from a far worse recession.

Interesting, because there’s actually a lot of non-muted praise for Bernanke. Times’ Michael Grunwald wrote an entire Person of the Year piece about how Bernanke saved us from a depression Foreign Policy named Bernanke no less than the no. 1 global thinker in the world!

Maybe knowing they had the votes to confirm Bernanke, supportive Senators didn’t feel it was worth the effort to extensively defend the nomination. It’s a little troubling, though, that the Senators didn’t forcefully make the case to confirm Bernanke. The debate over Bernake seemed reduced to populist appeals by foes and wizened, “we’re more farsighted and mature” complacency from the 70 Senators who supported the confirmation.

The New York Times’ Kenneth Chang has an informative article about big changes at NASA…including the privatization of launches:

Mr. Obama’s request, which will be announced on Monday, would add $6 billion over five years to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s budget compared with projections last year. With the increase, NASA would receive $100 billion over the 2011 through 2015 fiscal years.

The new money would largely go to commercial companies that would provide transportation to and from the International Space Station. Until now, NASA has designed and operated its own spacecraft, like the space shuttles.

The commercial rockets would displace the Ares I, the rocket that NASA has been developing for the past four years to replace the shuttles, which are scheduled to be retired this year. Companies expected to seek the new space taxi business include United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin that launches rockets for the United States Air Force, and Space Exploration Technologies, a start-up company led by Elon Musk, who founded PayPal.

Besides the privatization issue, one thing to note here is that NASA is seeing an increase in their budget. This is despite Barack Obama’s pledge to freeze spending for all non-national security federal agencies. Barring alien invasion, NASA doesn’t count as national security. It bears monitoring how many other domestic agencies see an increase in there FY-2010 budget — the last budget before the pledged spending freeze.

The White House has honored its agreement at Copenhagen to send a greenhouse gas emissions reductions target to the United Nations, reports The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin. All countries that were part of the Copenhagen agreement have to send an emissions reduction target by Jan. 31 (that’s Sunday).

The question, of course, is how the U.S. can possibly meet a 17 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020 with it increasingly unlikely that a cap-and-trade bill will get through Congress in 2010. One partial solution might be the Enivronmental Protection Agency moving ahead with regulations. But it’s unclear if EPA can take significant action on climate change without inviting dozens of lawsuits and causing a collective heart attack in the Senate.

The Washington Post’s Craig Whitlock and Ed O’Keefe follow-up on Barack Obama’s kinda, sorta reference to repealing “Dont’ Ask, Don’t Tell” in Wednesday’s night State of the Union address: What’s new is that the Pentagon seems more willing to allow gays to openly serve in the military. However, Obama himself doesn’t appear too alarmed by DADT: he’s reiterated that Congressional legislation, not a White House executive order, is the best way to overturn the ban.

An executive order would not be some kind of unprecedented breach of democracy: Harry Truman issued one for the Pentagon to end racial discrimination. Moreover, Obama’s stance makes even less sense when the recent history of Congress is factored in. It sounds like a bad joke to expect Congress to rationally debate the merits of DADT and then, in a timely fashion, vote on whether or not it should be repealed.

By Marci Greenstein

After a four year stalemate, it took the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals only weeks to decide that the federal government was responsible for rebuilding Charity Hospital in New Orleans, which was virtually destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, according to a report by Kevin Sack in the New York Times.  The contract appeals board was established as part of the Defense Department’s budget for Fiscal Year 2006 to decide disputes between government contractors and government agencies.  It is specifically charged with resolving disputes between FEMA and applicants for FEMA assistance for damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and Rita. (more…)

Washington Post

Bernanke confirmed by Senate for 2^nd term as Fed chairman – Neil Irwin reports that Benanke confirmed by narrowest margin in history, weakens his position

U.S. pledges 17% emissions reduction by 2020 – Juliet Eilperin reports on administration’s follow thru on commitment made at Copenhagen summit, but Congress must pass legislation

Senate agrees to record increase in debt limit to $1.4 trillion – Lori Montgomery reports that measure to cover government’s bills includes “pay-as-you-go provision

On issue of gays in military, Pentagon will make recommendations to Congress – Craig Whitlock and Ed O’Keefe consider Pentagon’s recommendations for replacing “don’t ask don’t tell” to allow gay service members, some military leaders still resist change

USAID program for Pakistan tribal areas making ‘little headway,’ audit finds – Colum Lynch reports that $45 million program to help Pakistan government provide basic services in poorest areas has not worked, security a major obstacle

Big jump in GDP may veil weakness in economy – Steven Mulson reports that economists say government report of rise in GDP in last quarter of 2009 does not tell whole story, instead reflects restocking inventories from lowest level

Ticketmaster and Live Nation merger is a raw deal – Steve Perlstein questions administration’s zeal to enforce antirust laws, wishes Justice Department had blocked merger rather than settle for restrictions

Administration tightens documentation requirements for mortgage relief – Renae Merle reports that mortgage relief program will require up-front documentation of ability to repay

New York Times

A rare rebuke of justices in front of a nation – Adam Liptak surveys opinions on Obama criticism of Supreme Court ruling at State of the Union address

Assessor candidate benefits from property tax lawyers – Dan Mihalopoulos and Darnelle Little look at blatant conflict of interest in fundraising by Chicago official

Wall Street Journal

Bernanke wins new term – Jon Hilsenrath and Sudeep Reddy look at the “financial brain surgery” that Bernanke will have to perform in coming months of new term

Cellphone curbs may not reduce car crashes – Joseph B. White reports that insurance-industry sponsored study finds ban on handheld cellphones did not reduce crashes

U.S. to repay veterans in debt cash – Ellen E. Schultz explains that U.S. will repay tax refunds and benefits withheld to cover purchases under settlement of case by vets against Defense Department

Plan would soften white-collar fines – Gary Fields reports that U.S. Sentencing Commission proposes reduction in fines and penalties for corporations with compliance programs to prevent criminal activity

– compiled by Marci Greenstein

The Washington Post’s David Farenthold reports on dramatic confrontations between environmentalists and mountaintop miners in Appalachia West Virginia:

Environmentalists are unhappy because they fear federal officials are losing their nerve to take on the powerful coal industry. The coal industry is unhappy because it thinks the administration is on the brink of giving in to the green crowd.

To each side, it looks like the EPA hasn’t made up its mind. Which would make now the time to yell as loudly as possible.

People have chained themselves to mine equipment and shouted one another down. One scooted past state troopers to slap an environmentalist. The EPA finds itself in the middle of the most bitter in-your-face environmental fight in America today, facing an early test of its resolve and political skills. The agency appears certain to bear much of the weight of carrying out Obama’s historic environmental agenda.

This is a story — and a good one — about EPA struggling to deal with a major economic and environmental issue. But what Farenthold doesn’t do is give much indication about which side has the better argument. What is known is that mountaintop mining is mining for coal and that continued use of coal as an energy source produces greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. What’s also known is that when miners blast the top of a mountain to extract its coal, toxic metals are left in valleys and nearby streams, killing animal and plant life and producing unsafe drinking water.

Less clear is what alternatives are out there that provide new jobs to mountaintop miners and new energy sources in Appalachia. In his State of the Union speech last night, Barack Obama once again spoke on the importance of energy sector jobs that take advantage of new alternative and renewable energy sources. Can any of these jobs be made available to disgruntled mountaintop miners?

The headline for the story reads, “Administration pushes to rework No Child Left Behind law.” But the reporting by the Washington Post’s Nick Anderson doesn’t indicate that the Obama administration is pushing very hard re-authorize a law that was scheduled to be re-authorized in 2007. “Enacting a new version of what is formally known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act would be a heavy lift as lawmakers face midterm elections,” understates Anderson. “The law and the issues involved — standardized testing, teacher quality and many facets of school reform — are complex.” (more…)

High speed rail in Taiwan

The Wall Street Journal’s Josh Mitchell reports that the Obama administration will today announce where $8 billion in stimulus cash for high-speed rail will go: The big winner is California, which will get $2.2 billion for a rail link between San Diego and Sacramento. Illinois also makes out well, with a $1.1 billion project that connects Chicago to St. Louis. California and Illinois could use the good news as they’re both routinely cited as having two of the most intractable state budget deficits in the country.  However, the the stimulus grant will only cover so much and both California and Illinois will have to give matching money. This normally might not be a big deal, but it is now when California and Illinois having borrowed so much, that Moody’s credit rating agency has taken the unusual step of lowering their bond rating.