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Barack Obama
Pressuring POTUS On Fracking
May 8th - 11:36 am
IOGA’s latest “postcard” in its pro-fracking campaign focuses on President Obama, coinciding with his visit to Albany today.
This card features a quote from Obama’s Jan. 24 State of the Union address, during which he pledged his administration would “take every possible action” to safely develop natural gas as an alternative resource to help end the country’s dependance on foreign oil.
White House Pool Report #1
May 8th - 11:25 am
Here’s the first report filed by Dow Jones reporter Jared A. Favole, who is traveling with President Obama on his trip to Albany:
POTUS arrived at Andrews Air Force Base at 10:43 am ET, wearing a dark suit and grey tie.
Pooler saw Jay Carney, Valerie Jarrett and Alyssa Mastromonaco traveling with POTUS.
We are rolling to Albany International Airport at 10:53 am ET.
POTUS will tour and deliver remarks at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s (CNSE) Albany NanoTech Complex at the State University of New York.
POTUS is also expected to ask Congress to pass a laundry list of proposals to revive the economy. The ideas aren’t new. Republicans also have their own list of ideas they want Democrats to act on.
For more information on the UAlbany’s NanoTech complex see this link.
Pataki: Where Does Obama Stand On Marriage?
May 8th - 10:14 am
The popular line of Democratic attack on presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is that his positions on every issue change to please popular sentiment or too muddled and unclear to determine.
But today in a conference call, former Gov. George Pataki sought to turn that critique onto President Obama and his stance on same-sex marriage.
“Either you’re for something or you’re against it … President Obama is looking to have both sides,” Pataki told reporters on a conference call arranged by the Republican National Committee prior to the president’s trip to Albany.
The Obama administration is being forced back into the debate over same-sex marriage after Vice President Joe Biden said he was “comfortable” with granting the full legal status to gay couples.
Two cabinet members — HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Education Secretary Arne Duncan — both support same-sex marriage publicly.
Obama, who previously checked off a box as a state senator saying he supported gay marriage, later fell back to the politically safer position of favoring civil unions.
Obama says his views are “evolving” on marriage and speculation has risen over whether he will back full rights before or after the election.
Obama is facing pressure from local party leaders and Democratic lawmakers over approving a plank for the convention’s platform this summer that would back gay marriage.
And of course, Obama will be in Albany at an event attended by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose cajoling and political maneuvering helped legalize gay marriage in New York last year.
Pataki, Cox Note GOP Roots Of Nanotech
May 8th - 9:48 am
Hours before President Obama is scheduled to speak here at the nanoscale college at the University at Albany, Republican Chairman Ed Cox and former Gov. George Pataki held a conference call criticizing the president for his job-creation record and sought to draw a distinction on how to spur private sector growth.
But at the same time, Pataki and Cox noted their own involvement in the creation of the nanotech facility the UAlbany campus.
The college was “development 10 years ago by a Republican governor and based on Republican principles,” Cox said on the call.
Pataki, governor from 1995 to 2007, insisted he wasn’t on the call to take credit for nanotech campus, which seems to have grown exponentially every year.
“This isn’t about me,” Pataki said. “This is about the future of America.”
Instead, both Cox and Pataki sought to compare the success of government-sponsored investment in the private sector tied to job creation compared to the loan given to the failed clean-energy company Solyndra.
Pataki mentioned Solyndra at least three times when comparing his efforts during the 1990s on job creation to the Obama administration.
“We did the opposite pretty much of what president obama has done,” Pataki said. “We didn’t give a grant to a (single) company.”
The GlobalFoundries facility in Malta, where Obama was initially scheduled to appear, was also a major development during Pataki’s tenure. But Pataki drew a distinction between GlobalFoundries and Solyndra, noting the government incentive package for what was then AMD was tied to job growth.
“We weren’t competing against any other state, we were competing against two foreign countries,” Pataki said. “It was a very difficult compeitition and by the way, when we put our package in place to get there, we have to pay a 35 percent corporate tax. We actually had to look again at what sort of incentives to lure them here. The federal government wasn’t part of the solution, they were part of the problem.”
The White House has said they changed the site of today’s event for logistical reasons, though the foreign ownership and massive tax credits GlobalFoundries has received would have raised uncomfortable questions for an administration running for re-election.
Pataki said he wasn’t offended by the switch.
“I think it was a wise decision for him not to go there, but I would have been proud of him going to either site,” Pataki said.
Presidential Prepping
May 8th - 8:19 am
Here’s the scene inside the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering hours before President Obama takes the stage for his third Capital Region visit since taking office in 2009. 
(That sign, which says “An America Built To Last” was in the process of being moved just as the press was ushered out of the room for the Secret Service security sweep.)
The president is not expected to give his speech until later this afternoon and as Jimmy reported in The Times Union today, it’s expected to be a “to-do list” of sorts.
Traffic is expected to be snarled in and around the Interstate 90 and upper Washington Avenue area near UAlbany until the middle part of this afternoon, so plan accordingly.
And last night on the show, I spoke to Rep. Chris Gibson, who did not express any concerns about the president switching his itinerary to the nanotech campus from GlobalFoundries in Saratoga County (which is in Gibson’s district).
The official line out of the White House was the trip was changed due to logistical purposes, but the switch highlighted how GlobalFoundries is owned by the Gulf State Abu Dhabi and receives tons of government assistance to get off the ground.
“I take the president at his word,” Gibson said of the official reason for the change. The full interview, including whether Gibson thinks this is merely a campaign event and how he sees the high-tech sector helping upstate is here.
Live coverage of the president’s visit begins at 11:30 on YNN.
Caroline Kennedy, Obama Co-Chair, Joins Freedom To Marry
May 7th - 1:13 pm
In a sign that President Obama’s views on same-sex marriage might evolve to full-blown support later this year, Caroline Kennedy, an Obama campaign co-chairwoman, has joined the campaign pushing for a pro-marriage plank at the Charlotte convention this summer.
“There are few things in life more important than being able to marry and build a family with the person you love. This fundamental right should be available to all Americans, including gay and lesbian couples,” said Kennedy in a statement. “In our democracy we are fortunate to have elected officials at all levels of government, and courageous jurists who have put their careers on the line, to uphold the promise of equality that is as old as our Constitution, and I hope that many more will follow their example.”
Kennedy, the daughter of JFK and a cousin of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ex-wife Kerry Kenendy, was at one point in the running to replace now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Senate, but the job ultimately went to Kirsten Gillibrand.
The announcement comes as Vice President Joe Biden says he’s “comfortable” with same-sex marriage and Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he, too, supports extending the rights to gay couples.
Location Of Obama’s Cap Region Trip Moved (Updated)
May 4th - 4:41 pm
President Obama will not be speaking at GlobalFoundries next Tuesday after all, according to sources with knowledge of his trip, but he is still coming to the Capital Region.
The location of Obama’s tech/economy speech has now been moved to SUNY’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany.
This is a nice feather in Alain Kaloyeros’ cap, but it’s something of an embarrassment for GF and congressmen Paul Tonko and Chris Gibson, who were crowing rather publicly (and bipartisanly) yesterday about Obama’s visit to Malta in Saratoga County.
No word yet on why Obama has decided to change his plans. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Rep. Chris Gibson’s office provided the following information from the White House:
“On Tuesday, May 8, the President will travel to the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s (CNSE) Albany NanoTech Complex at the State University of New York in Albany, New York for an event on the economy. ”
“CNSE’s Albany NanoTech Complex is a fully-integrated research, development, prototyping, and educational facility that provides strategic support through outreach, technology acceleration, business incubation, pilot prototyping, and test-based integration support for onsite corporate partners including IBM, Intel, GlobalFoundries, Applied Materials as well as other next generation nanotechnology research activities.”
“Due to logistical reasons, the President’s event will no longer be held at GlobalFoundries in Malta, New York. GlobalFoundries will join the President at CNSE.”
AP: Obama Coming to GlobalFoundries
May 3rd - 1:26 pm
The Associated Press is reporting that President Obama will pay a visit to GlobalFoundries in Malta next Tuesday – his third visit to the Capital Region since his 2008 election.
Much like Obama’s January 2011 visit to GE, the focus of this trip will be the economy.
Of course, the stakes are considerably higher now, since the president isn’t merely gearing up for his re-election bid, but smack in the middle of a campaign with an opponent – former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney – whose chief talking point is his experience in the private sector.
Global Foundries is a $4.6 billion facility in Saratoga County that manufactures computer chips and will ultimately employ about 1,400 people. It was the subject of an ABC World News report this week, which was panned by local media outlets for failing to get all the facts on the massive development project.
Chief among the complains was the fact that the report by David Muir, who has upstate roots (he grew up in Syracuse and attended Ithaca College), made no mention of the $1 billion-plus in state taxpayer subsidies that made Global Foundries possible.
He also suggested that everyone currently working at the plant was hired locally, which, according to The Business Review, is not the case.
So official word on this trip yet from either the White House or the Cuomo administration. The governor was on hand to greet the president on the tarmac when he arrived at Albany International for his Schenectady trip.
When Obama first visited the area back in 2009, David Paterson was governor. The presiden’ts visit to Hudson Valley Community College in Troy was supposed to focus on his speech about technology. But that message was drowned out by the report just before the president’s trip that the White House was trying to strong arm Paterson out of the 2010 governor’s race to make room for then-AG Cuomo.
During the trip, Obama praised Paterson, but positively gushed over Cuomo. Five months later, Paterson had ended his bid to be elected to the seat he had inheritied from former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, clearing the field for Cuomo.
Now, of course, Cuomo is widely speculated to have his eye on a 2016 White House bid – a run that arguably would be made easier if Obama loses to Romney this fall. (Although there is that little wrinkle of a potential run by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton).
Rangel Fundraises Off Obama Student Loan Push
Apr 25th - 4:05 pm
Rep. Charlie Rangel emailed supporters today to tout his role in reducing federal student loan interest rates when he was Ways and Means chairman and lauding President Obama’s push to prevent that law from expiring this July.
The veteran Harlem Democrat, who is facing mulitple primary challengers for the second year in a row, took his “Republican colleagues” to task for refusing to heed Obama’s call for the so-called Buffett Rule to help pay for extending the measure that reduced the interest rate from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent.
“My Republican colleagues need to prioritize the future of America’s students instead of tax breaks for the wealthy,” Rangel wrote. “Average American families should not be forced to choose between their children’s education and their own financial well-being.”
“I would not be where I am today if I didn’t have the opportunity to get an education. I have co-sponsored both the Student Loan Forgiveness Act, H.R. 4170, and The American College Tax Relief Act, H.R. 3826, which would take large steps towards making college affordable. These bills would forgive loans and reduce some interest rates for millions of Americans. I hope that I can count on your support as I continue to fight to expand access to education for all Americans. “
Rangel’s email includes a link to Obama’s appearance on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” last night, during which the president joined the host in “slow jamming” the student loan news – a continuation of Obama’s obvious effort to bolster his support among young voters who were key to his election in 2008.
There’s also a link to the fundraising page on Rangel’s campaign website.
Not mentioned is the fact that Rangel hasn’t been Ways and Means chairman since the spring of 2010, when he stepped down following after an ethics panel found he had violated House gift rules by accepting corporate funding for trips to the Caribbean.
At the time, Rangel was still the subject of other ethics probes focused on his misuse of rent-controlled apartments, failure to disclose income from a villa in the Dominican Republic and allegations that he misued his office to land a $1 million gift to CUNY’s Charles Rangel Center. Rangel was later censured by the House for financial misconduct in December 2010 – just months after he won both the September primary and the November general election.
In the summer of 2010, Obama called the allegations against Rangel “very troubling,” and said he hoped the congressman would be able to “end his career with dignity” – a comment widely interpreted as a not-so-subtle push by the commander-in-chief for the congressman to retire.
But Rangel refused, and now he is again seeking re-election, facing multiple primary challengers – including Sen. Adriano Espaillat – and insisting he intends to serve out a full two-year term if the voters return him to D.C., despite persistent speculation that he will retire mid-term in hopes of controlling the selection of his successor.
The full text of Rangel’s email appears after the jump:
Wealthy Congresswoman Avoids Criticizing Romney’s Wealth
Apr 25th - 1:39 pm
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, an Upper East Side Democrat, and her New Jersey colleague, Rep. Rush Holt, were tapped by the DNC to do some pushback against Mitt Romney, who has launched a fundraising blitz here and across the Hudson River in the Garden State in the wake of his five-state primary sweep last night.
Maloney and Holt embraced their task with relish, zinging the former Massachusetts governor at length on a media conference call, insisting his policies and ideology are bad for the middle class, women, students and, in general, the entire country.
The congresswoman said Romney’s victory speech last night should have been titled “Back to the Future,” because he’s using the “same old Bush play manual.” She slammed the Romney campaign for punting on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, telling the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein earlier this month they would have to “get back” to him on where the candidate stands on the question of equal pay for women.
The congresswoman also criticized the unwillingness of Romney – and Republicans in general – to heed President Obama’s call to make the rich pay more in taxes, saying that “Americans are not naive; they know a better American begins with everyone being able to pay their fair share.”
But she was temporarily knocked off her talking points when a reporter – I think The Capital’s Reid Pillifant – asked whether she thinks it’s fair game for Democrats to make Romney’s personal wealth a campaign issue – a potentially sensitive subject for Maloney, who is one of the wealthiest members of Congress with an average estimated net worth is over $28 million.
Maloney responded by pivoting as quickly as possible to the moment’s hot topic: The continuation of low-rate student loans.
“I think what’s fair game is his policies really,” the congresswoman said. “…The fact that he has his own wealth doesn’t mean that other Americans are going to have that wealth. I think what we have to look at is the crisis on student loans.”
And then, on safer ground, Maloney was off on running, lamenting how many young people have more student loan debt than credit card debt, and praising President Obama for being “very clear and very personal” on this issue by revealing that he and the first lady only managed to pay off their own student loans eight years ago.
Holt jumped in at some point to take the heat off Maloney, picking up the standard Democratic talking point about Romney being out of touch with regular folks. The former governor “has demonstrated over and over again that he doesn’t understand the lives the concerns of ordinary Americans, and his policy shows it,” Holt said, adding: “He doesn’t understand them, and he doesn’t seem to want to do anything to help them.”
Maloney did later add that she wants to “stay away from class warfare” and prefers to “just look at the math.”
“How in the world can you continue the college loan program…if you’re supporting the Ryan budget and all the cuts that come along with them,” she said, insisting that what Romney should do if he agrees with the Obama on extending low rate student loans is “call on congressional leaders like Speaker (John) Boehner and tell them to support the president’s proposal; the only thing standing in the way of keeping college affordable is the Republican Congress.”
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