Newsweek’s Alter: Obama ‘Prevented Another Great Depression,’ ‘Sweeping Up’ Bush’s ‘S****’

Newsbusters.org ^ | 6-8-10 | Brad Wilmouth

[Justaham]

Appearing on Monday’s The Colbert Report on Comedy Central to promote his book, "The Promise," MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter – also of Newsweek – asserted that President Barack Obama had "prevented another Great Depression," and declared that Obama had it more difficult than Franklin Delano Roosevelt because he had to "sweep up" like a "shovel brigade" after President Bush, as he used a word that had to be bleeped out for airing. Alter: "He proceeded to make history almost right away, not only because he was the first African-American elected President ... we were all living history. This man prevented another Great Depression."

He soon added: "At the beginning, FDR only had to deal with domestic problems. Obama was left to run what you could call a shovel brigade, you know, the guys who sweep up after the elephants when the elephants leave their s- (BLEEP) all over the circus, right? ... Roosevelt didn't have to deal with foreign policy when he became President. Obama had to deal with a whole nother mess, one of Bush's messes, in Afghanistan."

[Tublecane]

“Roosevelt didn’t have to deal with foreign policy when he became President. Obama had to deal with a whole nother mess, one of Bush’s messes, in Afghanistan.”

Uh, Obama’s pretty much had the exact same foreign policy as Bush. What has he done differently?

[Mr. Jazzy]

Alters lack of recent and credible contact with reality is just another one of the multitude of reasons that Newsweak is going broke.

[maggief]

The Chicago Way PING!

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37403.html

Alter, a Chicago native and self-described progressive, met then state Sen. Obama in 2002 at his cousin’s house. He’s known Emanuel, Axelrod and Larry Summers for years.

(no link)

Raised on Chicago politics
Chicago Tribune (IL) - Sunday, June 11, 2006
Author: Kristin Kloberdanz

Chicago native Jonathan Alter, one of political activists Jim and Joanne Alter ‘s four children, recalls a suburban picnic for reform Democrats he attended at age 11. The event was dramatically interrupted when Mayor Richard J. Daley waded through the crowd of his liberal critics to ask Adlai Stevenson III if he would consider replacing the late U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen, who had recently died in office.

Perhaps not the defining moment in Alter ‘s life, but the affair certainly piqued his interest in politics. As did his parents’ steady stream of dinner and party guests, which included Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sens. Stevenson and Paul Simon. For a boy so enamored with Abraham Lincoln that his mother baked him a cake every February in honor of the president’s birthday, such proximity to intriguing characters left an indelible mark.

“Growing up in Chicago helped me appreciate the importance of smart, effective politics to change the country and the world,” said Alter , a senior editor at Newsweek and political commentator, in an interview. “I also learned in Chicago to look at the darker side—I saw an awful lot of politicians go to jail.”

(snip)

//

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2008/db20080314_121054.htm

... Axelrod, a onetime Chicago Tribune reporter who got his start in politics when he managed Illinois Democrat Paul Simon’s first election to the U.S. Senate.

//

http://jwa.org/exhibits/wwd/jsp/bio.jsp?personID=pjalter

Joanne Alter
Community Activist

//

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2106603/posts

February 12, 2000: Barack & Michelle Obama Party Down with Radicals Ayers & Klonsky
Community Renewal Society 10th Anniversary Prom ^ | 2008-10-15 | FREE REPUBLIC WORLD EXCLUSIVE

Honorary Committee

Joanne Alter, Founder
Working In The Schools

Arnita Boswell, Founder, Board Member
National Hook Up of Black Women

Julie Chavez, Managing Director
Bank of America Illinois

Ronald Gidwitz, Partner
GCG Partners

Sandra Guthman, President
Polk Bros. Foundation

Leon Jackson, President
Multi-Fac Corporation

R. Eden Martin, President
Civic Committee, Commercial Club of Chicago

Richard Morrow, Retired Chairman and CEO
Amoco Corporation

Adele Simmons, Vice President
Chicago Metropolis 2020

Rev. Kenneth W. Smith, Senior Fellow
Chicago Community Trust

Christina Tchen, Partner
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Planning Committee

Susan Ansai, literacy coordinator
North Lawndale Learning Community

Chryssa Atkinson, communications director
Chicago Annenberg Challenge

John Ayers, executive director
Leadership for Quality Education

Willie Coles, senior program officer
Steans Family Foundation

James Deanes, director
CPS Office of School and Community Relations

Stephanie Gadlin, director of community affairs
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition

Gabe Gonzalez, executive director
Northwest Neighborhood Federation

Wanda Hopkins, advocacy trainer
Parents United for Responsible Education

Susan Klonsky, consultant
Small Schools Workshop

Rochelle Lee, president
Rochelle Lee Fund

Diana Nelson, public affairs director
Union League Club

Rose Nicholson, assistant principal
Robeson High School

Michelle Obama, assistant dean
University of Chicago

Idida Perez, executive director
West Town Leadership Project

Robert Quashie, account supervisor
Edelman Public Relations

Juan Rangel, executive director
United Neighborhood Organization

Timothy Russell, supervisor
Sara Lee Foundation

Norma White, vice president
Chicago Teachers Union

[TexasCajun]

Is there room for Alter at MSNBC when Newsmax buys up Newsweek?

Pls let this deal go through.

[Lee'sGhost]

Good. Bookmark this. When the economy implodes use it to remind libtards that Zero owns it.

[a fool in paradise]

Appearing on Monday’s The Colbert Report on Comedy Central to promote his book, "The Promise," MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter – also of Newsweek

Talk about a circle jerk.

[penelopesire]

Excellent flashback links..especially the last one. Alter is the quintessential ‘red diaper’ baby.

[listenhillary]

Even the left is getting tired of the excuses.

[a fool in paradise]

President Barack Obama had "prevented another Great Depression," and declared that Obama had it more difficult than Franklin Delano Roosevelt because he had to "sweep up" like a "shovel brigade" after President Bush

Barney Frank covered up problems at Fannie and Freddie. Then again he had a rentboy executive from Fannie as a boyfriend.

Barney Frank 2003: "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not facing any kind of financial crisis" ( NYT article September 11, 2003)

New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae By STEPHEN LABATON

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt -- is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

~~ snip ~~

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

''I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,'' Mr. Watt said...

Lawmaker Accused of Fannie Mae Conflict of Interest (Barney in trouble!)(Fox News Friday, October 03, 2008 Bill Sammon)

WASHINGTON — Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefitted from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s.

So did Frank’s partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions.

Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank's relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over Fannie.

Barney Frank should have been under oath answering questions rather than handling the "investigation".

[a fool in paradise]

Obama sent more troops to Afghanistan. Did he ever make the case for WHY we are at war in Afghanistan? When he also instituted a “withdrawl date”?

[bolobaby]

“This man prevented another Great Depression.”

OK, fine. Note the PAST TENSE. That means everything bad that happens to the economy from here on out is solely his fault, right? He can start taking blame now?

Can’t start taking credit without beginning to take blame, right?

[Tublecane]

“Obama sent more troops to Afghanistan.”

Obama’s Afghanistan policy is just a repeat of Bush’s “surge” in Iraq, only on a smaller scale.

“When he also instituted a ‘withdrawl date’?”

It is my opinion that Obama’s deadline will not end up being all that different from Bush’s various “benchmarks” and “timetables.” Surely, Obama will never pull everyone out of Iraq or Afghanistan. If and when he pulls combat troops out, he’ll put them right back in again if circumstances dictate.

[maggief]

Cozy, eh? (See also post #23)

http://www.bradenton.com/2010/05/24/2307071/author-topic-obama.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Jonathan Alter met Barack Obama in January 2002, when the future president came to a funeral service for his aunt.

The Newsweek columnist, whose family has been involved in Chicago politics, said his cousins kept saying he needed to interview the young politician.

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=B17BC274-18FE-70B2-A88097B1B33BC87F

Jamie Lynton — The sister of Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter and wife of Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, Jamie Lynton was raised in Chicago, where her mom, the late Joanne Alter — the first female Democrat elected in Cook County, according to her obit — spotted Obama in 2003 and convinced her daughter to support him. As a result, Lynton co-hosted an early fundraiser for Obama’s Senate bid in 2004 in addition to hosting a presidential campaign event early last year, when most showbiz types were still supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton. Will.i.am, who composed the viral video for “Yes, We Can,” met Obama during a fundraiser at Lynton’s home and, while she doesn’t pretend to be a close, personal friend, she can certainly claim to be one of Obama’s first and most fervent L.A. supporters.

Nicole Avant — One of Obama’s major fundraisers in Southern California (along with co-finance chairman Charles Rivkin and full-time staffers Jeremy Bernard and Rufus Gifford), Avant had boundless energy and networking savvy that gave her a special “in” with the candidate, more of one than her colleagues had, in many cases. (Indeed, the half-true joke around L.A. was, “He only talks to Nicole.”) Her dad, soul music legend Clarence Avant, was a major force at Motown Records and eventually applied his deal-making prowess to politics, growing close to Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton as well as state power players such as Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/24/obamas-big-tent-leaves-out-gop-leaders/

Reports emerged Monday that Hollywood will be in the house: DreamWorks partners David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, along with Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Michael Lynton and WME Entertainment Agency co-CEO Ari Emanuel, will attend, according to deadline.com.

//

(no link)

Enid Long, 71; helped relocate refugees - Gold Coast resident hosted TV show, was on Columbia College board
Chicago Sun-Times - Thursday, January 31, 2002
Author: Gary Wisby ; Refugee worker, ambassador's wife, college trustee, TV hostess—Enid Long was comfortable in every role.

(snip)

In 1959, she married Chicago attorney William Rivkin, who served as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg and Senegal. After his death in Senegal in 1967, she founded the Rivkin Award, presented annually by the American Foreign Service Association to a mid-level foreign service officer.

After marrying John Long in 1971, she completed her bachelor's degree, graduating from Columbia College in communications in 1973. She was a trustee of the college until her illness forced her to resign.

Survivors include husband John Long; two daughters, Laura Ledford and Julia Wheeler; another son, Charles Rivkin; a sister, Joanne Alter; 10 grandchildren; six stepchildren; 21 stepgrandchildren, and one step-great-grandchild.

//

(no link)

Favorite sons call in big guns in high-priced race for Senate - Gery Chico is hoping to raise $8 million and is off to a fast start.
Chicago Sun-Times - Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Author: Steve Neal

EXCERPT

State Sen. Barack Obama, who is regarded by the Hynes camp as a threat, is consolidating his base in the African-American community and among lakefront and suburban independents. His finance committee includes real estate developers Penny Pritzker and Tony Rezko; philanthropist Irving B. Harris; former FCC Commissioner Newton Minow; John Rogers, chairman and chief executive officer of Ariel Capital Management; former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Abner Mikva; former Democratic National Committeewomen Joanne Alter and Marjorie Benton; Bettylu Saltzman, former Chicago chief of staff to Sen. Paul Simon, and former Sara Lee chief executive officer John Bryan.

[maggief]

http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Robert_S._Rivkin

Robert S. Rivkin

Current Position: Department of Transportation General Counsel (since April 2009)

Adding another member to the long list of Chicagoans in the Obama administration, Rivkin comes aboard the Department of Transportation (DOT) as its chief legal counsel. He’ll also be a close adviser to Secretary of Transportation Raymond H. Lahood.

Rivkin, whose father worked in government as an U.S. ambassador from 1962 to 1967, has spent years as both a private lawyer and public servant. Early in the 2000s, Rivkin spent some time as the general counsel to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), where he worked under current White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett when she served as CTA’s chairwoman. While at the CTA, Rivkin helped obtain over $400 million in funding from the federal government to renovate the fastest-growing subway line in the Chicago area.

(snip)

[penelopesire]

Wonder how much money these same folks have invested in the whole cap n trade legislation and globull warming(i.e. The Chicago Climate Exchange)? What a nest of self dealing vipers!

[maggief]

http://www.muckety.com/Robert-S-Rivkin/86784.muckety

Other current Robert S. Rivkin relationships:
Aon Corporation - VP
Chicago (IL) Metropolitan Planning Council - governor
Leadership Greater Chicago - director
Robert S. Rivkin past relationships:
2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign - fundraiser
Chicago (IL) - legal policy director
Chicago (IL) Transit Authority - general counsel
Schiff Hardin LLP - partner

[Gene Eric]

I wonder what Alter thinks about 9-11.

[maggief]

Meet Alter’s “cousins” ...

Ambassador to France: Who is Charles Rivkin?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009

http://www.allgov.com/ViewNews/Ambassador_to_France__Who_is_Charles_Rivkin_90714

Outside of his business dealings, Rivkin is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council and the Pacific Council on International Policy.

When Obama shattered campaign fundraising records with a $150 million haul in September 2008, his bundlers in California played a key role in amassing so much cash. Rivkin was one of these major players, serving as Obama’s Southern California finance co-chair. According to OpenSecrets.org, he sent at least $500,000 towards Obama’s campaign committee as a bundler and another $300,000 toward his inaugural committee. Since the 1994 election cycle, Rivkin has personally contributed more than $97,500 to Democrats, including $6,600 to Obama.

Rivkin is not the only member of his family to receive an appointment from Obama. His brother, Robert, was selected to be general counsel for the Department of Transportation, and Robert’s wife, Cindy S. Moelis, a close friend of Michelle Obama, was chosen to direct the Commission on White House Fellows.

//

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/04/another_chicagoan_cindy.html

Moelis path to the White House comes via her connections with billionaire Penny Pritzker, President Obama’s presidential campaign finance chair. Moelis has been the charitable foundation established by Pritzker and her husband, the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_collins

Cindy Moelis, who has known Obama since they worked together in Chicago’s city hall, in the nineties,

[FreeStateYank]

“Jonathan Alter: The New Larry Sinclair”

Not really. Larry was honest about what he was doing.

[556x45]

I thought it was the democrat congress who averted the depression. Barry sat on the sidelines early on letting them have free rein signing all bills they passed. Now he’s trying to take credit? LOL, I think anyone foolish enough to embrace this folly is going to be branded for life as The Great American Goof. Honestly I think Barry and the congressional dems should share.