Nancy Reagan Praises Obama, World Economy Going South

Paul Krugman
E J Dionne
Mohammad Hassan Khani

“I’m very grateful that President Obama has lifted the restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. These new rules will now make it possible for scientists to move forward. I urge researchers to make use of the opportunities that are available to them, and to do all they can to fulfill the promise that stem cell research offers."  - Nancy Reagan

The Political Animal reports on the conservative talking heads dissing Obama's lifting the limits on stem cell research imposed by the Bush administration: "So, what has the right come up with to criticize today's announcement? Apparently, the president's move is a "distraction."

"There's a reason it's coming up this week," House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said during an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union." "Why are we going and distracting ourselves from the economy? This is job No. 1, let's focus on what needs to be done.... Let's take care of business first -- people are out of jobs. And again, there is a reason why all of this is happening right now."

This doesn't make any sense. And not just in the usual way -- the arguments against stem-cell research have never been coherent -- but also in these specific concerns. Expanding stem-cell research is not a "distraction." It doesn't take that long for the president to sign an executive order. His focus on the economy will remain unaffected.

It's not just Cantor... Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), a former Speaker of the House, told the Fix late Sunday that Obama's move on stem cells was an "ideological sideshow" that took focus away from the continued decline of the economy. "It is dangerous for the Obama administration to pick a wide series of fights," said Gingrich. "Each of these fights simply drains energy away and increases the coalition which decides it has a collective interest in stopping everything."

The White House isn't "picking a fight," it's ending one. Obama promised voters he'd do this, they voted for him, so he's following through. There are plenty of Republican lawmakers -- even conservatives ones -- who support this move, so there's need for a new round of partisan sniping.

 Is it so outrageous to think expanding medical research opportunities might be ... wait for it ... good for the economy? The Wall Street Journal noted this morning, "Lifting federal funding restrictions on embryonic-stem-cell studies will re-energize U.S. researchers and likely bring tens of millions of dollars to university labs."

Personally, I'm waiting for Eric and Newt to take on Nancy in public, like the way he tried to do with Ronald Reagan. You have to wait until the icon has passed away before attempting to tarnish the image...

Paul Krugman writes that the stimulus package maybe behind the unemployment curve, that 3.5 million jobs created or preserved won't help when we have already lost 4.2 million jobs, with 600,000 more being lost each month: "So here’s the picture that scares me: It’s September 2009, the unemployment rate has passed 9 percent, and despite the early round of stimulus spending it’s still headed up. Mr. Obama finally concedes that a bigger stimulus is needed.

But he can’t get his new plan through Congress because approval for his economic policies has plummeted, partly because his policies are seen to have failed, partly because job-creation policies are conflated in the public mind with deeply unpopular bank bailouts. And as a result, the recession rages on, unchecked.

O.K., that’s a warning, not a prediction. But economic policy is falling behind the curve, and there’s a real, growing danger that it will never catch up."

The World Bank is issuing a report today, saying that the economic downturn is global and we may not have enough resources to turn things around, especially in developing countries.

From Politico:"The report said that 94 out of 116 developing countries have been hit by economic slowdowns. The World Bank projected that the economic crisis will push around 46 million people into poverty in 2009 through job and wage cuts, as well as declining flows of remittances, the money that foreign workers send to their families. Net private capital flows to emerging markets are plunging, set to fall to $165 billion this year -- or 17 percent of their 2007 levels. Falling demand in the West is sparking the sharpest drop in world trade in 80 years, sending sales of the products and commodities of poorer nations spiraling down, the report said.

As a result, the report estimates that at least 98 countries may have problems financing at least $268 billion in public and private debt this year. It noted a worsening in market conditions could raise that figure as high as $700 billion. Additionally, only one quarter of vulnerable developing countries, the World Bank said, have the ability to launch their own stimulus programs or to independently finance measures such as job-creation or safety-net programs."

And Bloomberg reports: "The value of global financial assets including stocks, bonds and currencies probably fell by more than $50 trillion in 2008, equivalent to a year of world gross domestic product, according to an Asian Development Bank report.

Asia excluding Japan probably lost about $9.6 trillion, while the Latin American region saw the value of financial assets drop by about $2.1 trillion, said Claudio Loser, a former International Monetary Fund director and the author of the report that was commissioned by the ADB. The report didn’t give a breakdown of asset declines in other regions."

Hey, let's throw in that the ex-Russian satellite countries could topple all of Europe into a spiral that they won't recover from and you can see why people are drinking and taking a lot more drugs these days...

In honor of Ted Kennedy, here are some vintage late night jokes:

"You see Barack Obama at that rally surrounded by all those Kennedys? Man, I couldn't tell if he was running for president or bartender." --Jay Leno

"There was even more good news for Barack Obama yesterday. Caroline Kennedy endorsed him in a New York Times editorial and today her uncle Theodore granted Obama his blessing [on screen: Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) saying, 'I'm proud to stand with him here today and offer my help, offer my voice, offer my energy, my commitment to make Barack Obama the next president of the United States']. What just happened to me? Did I just get inspired by Ted Kennedy? Next thing you know, we'll be putting a man on the moon" --Jon Stewart

"Congressman Patrick Kennedy crashed his car into a barricade on Capitol Hill at 3 o'clock in the morning yesterday. The head of his office said there was no alcohol involved. That's why it's a big story, a Kennedy, a car accident and no alcohol? That's never happened before." --Jay Leno

"What a nightmare I had last night. I dreamed I was at a Washington party and I had to choose between Dick Cheney taking me on a hunting trip or Ted Kennedy driving me home." --Jay Leno

"According to rumors, Ted Kennedy may have had a child out of wedlock. Well, who hasn't? But you know, something like this could damage Kennedy's image with women." --David Letterman

"Tabloids are reporting that Sen. Ted Kennedy has an illegitimate 21 year-old son. Apparently, Kennedy isn't denying the report, but the kid is." --Conan O'Brien

"Ted Kennedy got pretty contentious. After he pointed out that Samuel Alito once belonged to a club that didn’t allow women, it was discovered that Senator Kennedy also once belonged to a club that wouldn’t allow women. Of course, with Kennedy those were club rules in place purely for the safety of women." --Jay Leno

"The Supreme Court confirmation hearings got pretty heated yesterday. Ted Kennedy questioned Judge Alito's integrity when Alito was at Princeton. As you may know, Kennedy was kicked out of Harvard for cheating. So when it comes to questionable integrity at college he knows what he is talking about." --Jay Leno

"Sen. Ted Kennedy is writing a children's book with his dog, from the dog's point of view. Sen. Ted Kennedy has a dog named Splash. Is that the best name for Ted Kennedy's dog? Isn't that like that Jack Abramoff guy naming his dog Bribe?" --Jay Leno

"They say President Bush has started drinking again. Boy, he'll do anything to get Ted Kennedy's support for that Supreme Court nominee." --Jay Leno

"Ted Kennedy called for Rumsfeld's resignation. This is interesting. This marks the first time Kennedy has ever come out against anything with rum in it." --Conan O'Brien

"Congress is investigating steroids. It's kind of ironic, isn't it? Ted Kennedy asking somebody how their head got so big." --Jay Leno

"On Wednesday, President Bush named the Justice Department headquarters after Robert F. Kennedy. Then he went around the corner and named a strip club after Ted." —Jay Leno