Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Paging Aaron Sorkin! Got a real-life "West Wing" on our hands!



No need for MSNBC, though -- got the
DRUDGE REPORT, pardner!

DRUDGE SEZ:

BUSH ANGER: OBAMA AIDES LEAK CHAT DETAILS
Tue Nov 11 2008 09:28:10 ET

Just hours after President Bush and President-elect Obama met in the Oval Office of the White House, details of their confidential conversation began leaking out to the press, igniting anger from the president, sources claim.

"Senator Obama would be wise to keep close counsel," a top Bush source warned.

"BUSH AND OBAMA AT ODDS OVER AID FOR AUTO INDUSTRY," splashed the NEW YORK TIMES in an exclusive Monday evening, quoting "people familiar with the discussion."

The two met at the White House in private, without staff.

"Bush indicated at the meeting that he might support some aid and a broader economic stimulus package if Obama and congressional Democrats dropped their opposition to a free-trade agreement with Colombia," claimed the TIMES.

MORE

The ASSOCIATED PRESS quickly followed with details of the conversation, citing "aides who described the discussion on grounds of anonymity, citing the private nature of the meeting."

Bush advisers view the leaks as an effort to undermine the president's remaining days in office.

"Senator Obama may not be familiar with a long-standing tradition of presidents holding their private conversations, private," a senior adviser explained to the DRUDGE REPORT.


Developing...

((((oy veys mere! Who is going to lasso those staffers and SHUT THEIR YAPPERS?  WHO IS THEIR ENFORCER?))))

# # #

1 comment:

Abbe Buck, PA, PR, PM, OM said...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/11/america/11auto.php

Obama asks Bush to provide help for automakers
By Jackie Calmes Published: November 11, 2008

WASHINGTON: The struggling auto industry was thrust into the middle of a political standoff between the White House and Democrats on Monday as President-elect Barack Obama urged President George W. Bush in a meeting at the White House to support immediate emergency aid.

Bush indicated at the meeting that he might support some aid and a broader economic stimulus package if Obama and congressional Democrats dropped their opposition to a free-trade agreement with Colombia, a measure for which Bush has long fought, people familiar with the discussion said.

The Bush administration, which has presided over a major intervention in the financial industry, has balked at allowing the automakers tap into the $700 billion bailout fund, despite warnings last week that General Motors might not survive the year.

Obama and congressional Democratic leaders say the bailout law authorizes the administration to extend assistance.

Obama went into his post-election meeting with Bush on Monday primed to urge him to support emergency aid to the auto industry, advisers to Obama said. But Democrats also indicate that neither Obama nor congressional leaders are inclined to concede the Colombia pact to Bush, and may decide to wait until Obama assumes power on Jan. 20.

Multimedia
Audio: Back Story with The Times's Micheline Maynard
» ListenVideo: A U.S. economic transition
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White House is open to accelerating auto loans European tram makers stand to gain from U.S. streetcar pushInvestor sentiment in Germany improves slightly, survey showsSeparate from his differences with Bush, Obama has signaled to the automakers and the unions that his support for short-term aid now, and long-term assistance once he takes office, is contingent on their willingness to agree to transform their industry to make cleaner, more energy-efficient vehicles.

A week after Obama's election victory, and more than two months before he takes office, the steadily weakening U.S. economy and the prospect of many more job losses are testing his effort to remain aloof from the nation's business on the argument that "we only have one president at a time."

As the auto industry reels, rarely has an issue so quickly illustrated the differences from one White House occupant to the next. How Obama responds to the industry's dire straits will indicate how much government intervention in the private sector he is willing to tolerate. It will also offer hints of how he will approach his job under pressure, testing the limits of his conciliation toward the opposition party and his willingness to stand up to the interest groups in his own.

GM's shares tumbled on Monday to 1946 prices, closing down 23 percent to $3.36, as analysts downgraded the stock on worries it would soon run out of cash and shareholders would be wiped out by any U.S. government bailout.

Obama has been far more receptive than Bush to having the government intervene to rescue another major sector of the economy. He called automakers "the backbone of American manufacturing" in his first post-election press conference last Friday, and many thousands of their employees belong to unions that are part of the Democratic Party's base.

But Obama's stance raises the question, with the country in a worsening economic situation, where would the Democrat draw the line as president?

Bush has drawn his line at the automakers' doors, having already been forced to shelve the free-market principles of his Republican Party to bail out the financial industry over the past two months. But Republicans say he would acquiesce in aid to automakers in return for Congress's ratification of the Colombia pact and pending trade agreements with Panama and South Korea.

The outgoing and incoming presidents met at the White House in private, without staff.