Raw Data: Special Interests Dominate Fiscal Responsibility Summit

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

So much for keeping the special interests at bay.

For all the talk about reforming government, the bulk of the guests at Monday's Fiscal Responsibility Summit are from groups with clear investments in the Obama administration.

Aside from the 64 representatives from the Obama administration and Congress, a sampling of the 56 "community leaders and stakeholders" shows that no less than seven union chiefs, 10 organizations advancing racial and ethnic concerns, 10 progressive think tanks and advocacy groups, three universities, three health care associations and at least six interests groups for women, seniors, disabled and gay rights groups were in attendance.

Six conservative think tanks and advocacy groups, two health policy organizations and four business associations along with one law firm specializing in Wall Street mergers, one retirement and financial services fund, a John McCain adviser and a representative from the Congressional Budget Office rounded out the guest list.

Unions

John Gage, American Federation of Government Employees

John Sweeney, AFL-CIO

Gerry McEntee, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers

Anna Burger, Change to Win

Dennis Van Roekel, National Education Association

Andy Stern, Service Employees Union International

Health Care Associations

Richard Umbdenstock, American Hospital Association

Nancy Neilson , American Medical Association

Becky Patton, American Nurses Association

Health Policy Foundations

Karen Davis, Commonwealth Fund

Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation

Racial and Ethnic Interest Groups

Karen Narasaki, Asian American Justice Center (AAJC)

Dr. Ho Tran, Asian Pacific Islanders American Health Forum (APIAHF)

Gary Flowers, Black Leadership Forum

Eleanor Hinton Hoytt, Black Womens Health Imperative

Maya Rockeymoore, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation

Hilary Shelton, NAACP

Jackie Johnson Pata, National Congress of American Indians

Janet Murguia, National Council of La Raza

Marc Morial, National Urban League (NY)

Seniors, Women, Disabled, Gay Rights Groups

Bill Novelli, AARP

Ed Coyle, Alliance for Retired Americans

Marty Ford, Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities

Ellie Smeal, Feminist Majority

Joe Salomonese, Human Rights Campaign

Heidi Hartmann, Institute for Women's Policy

Left-Leaning Think Tanks and Advocacy Groups

Alice Rivlin, Brookings Institution

Roger Hickey, Campaign for America's Future

John Podesta, Center for American Progress

Larry Korb, Center for American Progress

Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research

Robert Greenstein, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Lawrence Mishel, Economic Policy Institute

John Cavanagh, Institue for Policy Studies

Barbara B. Kennelly, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

Al From, Progressive Policy Institute

Robert Reischauer, Urban Institute

Right-Leaning Think Tanks and Advocacy Groups

Kevin Hassitt, American Enterprise Institute

Maya MacGuinneas, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

Bob Bixby, Concord Coalition

Stewart Butler, Heritage Foundation

David Walker, Peter G. Peterson Foundation

Peter Peterson, Peter G. Peterson Foundation

Ron Pollack, Families USA

Business Interest Groups

John Castellani, Business Roundtable

Joe Minarek, Center for Economic Development

Martin Regalia, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Todd Stottlemyer, National Association of Independent Businesses

Universities

Bill Spriggs, Howard University

Fernando Torres-Gil, UCLA

Michael Graetz, Yale

Wall Street Law Firm

Fred Goldberg, Skadden

Retirement and Financial Services Firm

Roger Ferguson, Teachers Insurance and Annuities Association-College Retirement Education Fund

Former John McCain Adviser

Douglas Holtz-Eakin

Congressional Budget Office

Doug Elmendorf, Director

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100da...ibility-summit/

[alienlovechild 75]

Special Interests Dominate Fiscal Responsibility Summit

Where were all these groups before billions were blindly spent on a bill no one read? I assume this summit is cover for Obama's tax hike to destroy the rest of the economy.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Special Interests Dominate Fiscal Responsibility Summit

Where were all these groups before billions were blindly spent on a bill no one read? I assume this summit is cover for Obama's tax hike to destroy the rest of the economy.

It is a leadership model that they teach to shavetails and community organizers. Obama never served, so guess where he got his training from? Gives me all kinds of warm fuzzies. How about you?

[alienlovechild 75]

It is a leadership model that they teach to shavetails and community organizers. Obama never served, so guess where he got his training from? Gives me all kinds of warm fuzzies. How about you?

It's a concensus building model where Obama claims he's listened to all then does what he or Congress want. He got his training in Chicago politics where everyone else was corrupt except him and most of people he initially appointed for his cabinet.

Obama didn't serve in the military because there wasn't a war going on. I guess we don't need a peacetime military.

[Dan J 277]

Lets see, invite experts = get blamed for caving to special interests. Invite nobody's = get blamed for not showing leadership.

I really don't think there is anyone you could invite that is an expert, that isn't tied to some organization or another. If Bush ran this meeting, no Democrats would be invited, and we would never know who was actually part of the meeting.

Edited February 24, 2009 by Dan + Gemvita

[Dan J 277]

It is a leadership model that they teach to shavetails and community organizers. Obama never served, so guess where he got his training from? Gives me all kinds of warm fuzzies. How about you?

It's a concensus building model where Obama claims he's listened to all then does what he or Congress want. He got his training in Chicago politics where everyone else was corrupt except him and most of people he initially appointed for his cabinet.

Obama didn't serve in the military because there wasn't a war going on. I guess we don't need a peacetime military.

Bipartisanship does not mean lets do everything the Republican way, after all it was the Democrats, not Republicans that were elected. Bipartisanship is getting a chance to be part of the political process, and getting a chance to have your voice heard. Whether that influences the results is another issue.

So far Obama has made quite a few attempts at including Republicans into the political process. Not many Republicans have taken him up on the offer. This does not mean Bipartisanship has failed. It only means that the Republicans generally prefer to remain partisan, attacking the political process instead of working within it.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

At Fiscal Responsibility Summit, McCain Suggests Cost-Saving: Cancel the President's New Chopper

"I'm going to start with John McCain, because,...you know, he and I had some good debates about these issues," President Obama said in the final session of the Fiscal Responsibility Summit. "But -- and I mean what I say here -- I think John has also been extraordinarily consistent and sincere about these issues. And I want to see if you've -- John, you've got some thoughts about where we need to go and some priority areas. I know you were in procurement, for example, which is an area I know we would like to work on together with you."

Said the president's former Republican rival, "Well, thank you, Mr. President. And thank you for doing this...Just one area that I wanted to mention that I think consumed a lot of our conversation on procurement, it was the issue of cost overruns in the Defense Department. We all know how large the defense budget is."

And, McCain noted, "your helicopter is now going to cost as much as Air Force One. I don't think that there's any more graphic demonstration of how good ideas have -- have cost taxpayers an enormous amount of money."

Said Obama, "I've already talked to (Defense Secretary Robert) Gates about a thorough review of the helicopter situation."

Added the president, to laughter, "the helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate to me. Of course, I've never had a helicopter before. So, you know, maybe -- maybe I've been deprived and I didn't know it. But I think it is a -- it is an -- an example of the procurement process gone amuck, and -- and we're going to have to fix it."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/20...scal-respo.html

[HAL 9000 96]

It is a leadership model that they teach to shavetails and community organizers. Obama never served, so guess where he got his training from? Gives me all kinds of warm fuzzies. How about you?

It's a concensus building model where Obama claims he's listened to all then does what he or Congress want. He got his training in Chicago politics where everyone else was corrupt except him and most of people he initially appointed for his cabinet.

Obama didn't serve in the military because there wasn't a war going on. I guess we don't need a peacetime military.

Bipartisanship does not mean lets do everything the Republican way, after all it was the Democrats, not Republicans that were elected. Bipartisanship is getting a chance to be part of the political process, and getting a chance to have your voice heard. Whether that influences the results is another issue.

So far Obama has made quite a few attempts at including Republicans into the political process. Not many Republicans have taken him up on the offer. This does not mean Bipartisanship has failed. It only means that the Republicans generally prefer to remain partisan, attacking the political process instead of working within it.

Touché.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Joe Barton asks Obama to make House Democrats play nice

Of all the GOP lawmakers invited to the White House this afternoon for the "fiscal responsibility" summit, Rep. Joe Barton may have gotten in the most salient question on the minds of fellow Republicans. When the president called on him, Barton told the president the summit was a "good first step. But if this is all we do, it's a sterile step" because House Democratic leaders have run roughshod over his party.

"It's very easy in the House, since it's set up to get things done quickly if the majority's united, to forget about the minority. But if you really want consensus, I would encourage you to encourage the speaker to have a true, open process," the Ennis Republican said.

Obama called it an "important point" but showed no inclination to pressure allies like Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"I'm not in Congress, so I don't want to interject myself too much into congressional politics," the president said. "... On the one hand, the majority has to be inclusive. On the other hand, the minority has to be constructive."

He urged Barton and his colleagues to remain engaged by offering constructive alternatives rather than knee-jerk opposition.

"The minority's got to then come up with those ideas and not just want to blow the thing up. ...On some of these issues, we're going to have some very real differences, and, you know, presumably the majority will prevail, unless the minority can block it. But you're just going to have different philosophical approaches to some of these problems."

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/arc...ma-to-make.html

[Ban Hammer 13,332]

i was hoping it would be CHANGE for the better. now it's just open pandering.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

i was hoping it would be CHANGE for the better. now it's just open pandering.

Warm fuzzies all around. "We may be going broke, but there is no reason to be pointing fingers."

I used to find ways sit out those silly AAR's! I used to call them ###### sessions.

(Wow! I guess the common word for female dogs is censored word!)

Edited February 24, 2009 by Mister_Bill

[Ban Hammer 13,332]

i was hoping it would be CHANGE for the better. now it's just open pandering.

Warm fuzzies all around. "We may be going broke, but there is no reason to be pointing fingers."

I used to find ways sit out those silly AAR's! I used to call them ###### sessions.

(Wow! I guess the common word for female dogs is censored word!)

the vj filter got you.