Posts by Faiz Shakir

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.

Democrats 'Scrambling to Push Out' Pro-Israel Resolution
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on January 7, 2009 at 9:29 AM.

Just as Israel is indicating it conditionally welcomes an Egyptian-French cease-fire proposal, Democrats in Congress are "scrambling to push out" a "non-binding resolution supporting Israel's goal" in the Gaza military operations:

U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the U.S. House of Representatives majority leader, told JTA he was looking at such a resolution, which is being drafted in the office of Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Certainly it would not demand a cease-fire," Hoyer said. "It would speak to the conditions that would justify a cease-fire. A cease-fire is not a just cease-fire when it's just Israel" holding fire.

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Reid: 'I Really Do Believe President Bush Is the Worst President We've Ever Had'
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on January 5, 2009 at 9:22 AM.

In early 2006, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said of President Bush: “I really do believe this man will go down as the worst president this country has ever had.” Sunday morning on Meet the Press, host David Gregory asked Reid whether he regrets making that statement. Reid refused to back down. “I think you just have to call things the way you see them,” he said. “I really do believe President Bush is the worst president we’ve ever had.”

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Bill Richardson Withdraws From Commerce Secretary Nomination
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on January 4, 2009 at 10:46 AM.

NBC News reports:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

A federal grand jury is investigating whether a California firm, CDR Financial Products, won a lucrative $1.6 million contract from the state of New Mexico after it contributed at least $110,000 to three political committees formed by Richardson.

Obama issued this statement:

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Cheney: 'I Don’t Have Any Idea' Why People Don't Like Me
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on December 29, 2008 at 4:19 AM.

Only 29 percent of Americans approve of the job Dick Cheney is doing as vice president. In an interview with his hometown Wyoming newspaper, the Caspar Star-Tribune, Cheney expressed his bewilderment over his low approval numbers:

QUESTION: How do you explain your low approval rating?

CHENEY: I don't have any idea. I don't follow the polls.

My experience has been over the years that if you govern based upon poll numbers, upon trying to improve your overall poll ratings, people I've encountered who do that are people who won't make tough decisions. And the job the president has, and those who advise him, is to make those basic fundamental decisions for the nation that nobody else is authorized or able to make.

In addition to his well-documented abuse of power and disregard for the rule of law, Cheney's public disapproval ratings might be explained in part by his own personal disregard for the public. When told that two-thirds of Americans disapproved of the Iraq war, Cheney responded "so?" adding that he didn't care what the American people thought.

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A Look Inside Bush's 'Pardongate'
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on December 26, 2008 at 10:58 AM.

After first pardoning "a Brooklyn real estate developer accused of scamming hundreds of poor, minority homebuyers - and whose father donated $28,500 to the Republican Party this year," the Bush White House moved quickly to reverse course. Bush revoked the pardon for Isaac Toussie after the White House acknowledged that the Brooklyn housing scammer did not meet pardon guidelines.

Putting aside the fact that Bush decided it was fine to grant a pardon for a predatory mortgage lender in the midst of a recession, there were a number of other improprieties in the pardon of Toussie:

- First of all, it had been granted by Bush despite the fact that the Pardon Attorney, Ronald L. Rogers, had not given a formal recommendation for it.

- Also, Toussie had not qualified for a pardon per Justice Department guidelines because it had not yet been five years since the completion of his sentence.

- Furthermore, Toussie's pardon came after his father, Robert, made his first political donation of $28,500 to the national Republican party in April.

Perhaps the most intriguing matter is the process by which the White House decided to issue the pardon. Toussie had hired Bradford Berenson, a former top lawyer in the White House counsel's office from 2001-2003, to handle the case.

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Biden to Chair New 'White House Task Force on Working Families'
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on December 21, 2008 at 11:03 AM.

President Barack Obama will form a "White House Task Force on Working Families," to be chaired by Vice President Joe Biden. According to a transition team press release, "The Task Force will be a major initiative targeted at raising the living standards of middle-class, working families in America." On ABC's This Week, Biden explained:

My focus is going to be, I'm going to chair this group and it is designed to do the one thing we use as a yardstick of economic success of our administration, is the middle class growing? Is the middle class getting better? Is the middle class no longer being left behind? And we'll look at everything from college affordability to after-school programs. The things that affect people's daily lives. I will be the guy honchoing that policy.

The task force will be comprised of the Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Commerce, as well as the Directors of the National Economic Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Domestic Policy Council, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors. It will conduct outreach sessions with representatives of labor, business, and the advocacy communities.

Obama's New SoT: What You Need to Know About Ray LaHood
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on December 20, 2008 at 5:49 AM.

Ten years ago, Ray LaHood was gaveling in House impeachment proceedings against President Clinton. Today, President-elect Barack Obama announced that he would be serving as the next Secretary of Transportation.

LaHood is a moderate Republican who has broken with his party over Amtrak funding, voting yes last summer to expand passenger rail service. He also broke with the GOP on the Saving Energy Through Transportation Act. In 2005, he told the Peoria Journal-Star that "we've got a good Amtrak system in Illinois and I don't think we want to destroy it by talking about privatization."

Friends of the Earth responded to the LaHood nomination by saying: "While his overall record on energy and environment issues is poor, LaHood has in recent years broken with many in his party to support crucial investments in passenger rail and public transportation, and he is a member of the Congressional Bike Caucus." LaHood also supported the bicycle commuter benefit bill.

But while LaHood has certain strengths, working long hours doesn't appear to be one of them. When Democrats ousted the right-wing Do-Nothing Congress in 2006, LaHood worried about returning to a five-day work week:

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Delusional Dick: Cheney Says Bush Will Be Popular in 30 Years
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on December 18, 2008 at 7:19 AM.

In an interview with the Washington Times yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that Bush's "place in history likely would grow during the next 20 to 30 years." Arguing his case, Cheney cited President Ford's decision -- unpopular at the time -- to pardon President Nixon:

"By the time of [Ford's] passing a couple of years ago, opinion had totally turned on that," Mr. Cheney said. "In fact, most people by then, even many who had been very critical 30 years before, were in agreement that in fact it was a good decision, it was the right thing to do from the standpoint of the country.

"I'm personally persuaded that this president and this administration will look very good 20 or 30 years down the road in light of what we've been able to accomplish."

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Shoe-Throwing Iraqi Journalist 'Beaten in Custody'
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on December 16, 2008 at 9:36 AM.

Muntader al-Zaidi, the now-infamous shoe-hurling Iraqi journalist, has reportedly been "beaten in custody," according to the BBC. Al-Zaidi's brother reports that the journalist is suffering from a broken hand, broken ribs, and internal bleeding. Yesterday, TV al-Sharqiya in Iraq reported that the al-Zaidi had "signs of tortures on his thighs." Meanwhile, thousands of Iraqis have taken to streets on Tuesday for second day to demand al-Zaidi's release.

Obama's Weekly Address: Taps Another Clintonite for HUD
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on December 13, 2008 at 7:13 AM.

In his weekly address, President-elect Barack Obama announced he was selecting the "widely respected housing commissioner for New York City," Shaun Donovan, to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Donovan worked at HUD in the Clinton administration, leading an effort to help make housing affordable for nearly two million Americans. He "has experience in all facets of the affordable housing market, having worked in both the nonprofit and private sectors and in academia as a scholar of housing policy." In his address, Obama said this appointment signals a new way of approaching the challenge of affordable housing:

We need to understand that the old ways of looking at our cities just won't do. That means promoting cities as the backbone of regional growth by not only solving the problems in our cities, but seizing the opportunities in our growing suburbs, exurbs, and metropolitan areas.

Watch it: