White House Calls Partisan Campaign Groups a 'Threat to Our Democracy'

White House Calls Partisan Campaign Groups a 'Threat to Our Democracy'

profit groups, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Thursday called the influx of election spending from unnamed donors "a threat to our democracy."

Speaking specifically about the conservative group American Crossroads and its sister organization, Crossroads GPS -- both of which are supported by Republican strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie -- Gibbs called for disclosure of their donor lists, saying, "If Mr. Gillespie and Mr. Rove consider themselves supporters, then the best thing would be for them to let the public see who all [their groups'] supporters are. Let the American people know who has written these checks."

Gibbs then extended this call to Democratic non-profits, saying, "This goes for every group -- groups on either side of the political spectrum." He added that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- presently under fire from a labor coalition alleging tax violations -- should be forced to disclose its donor sources as well.

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Rahm out, Rouse in on Friday - POLITICO.com Print View

Rahm out, Rouse in on Friday - POLITICO.com

President Barack Obama will announce Friday that his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, will leave the White House to run for mayor of Chicago and that senior adviser Pete Rouse will assume the post, sources said Thursday.

Emanuel’s departure — and Rouse’s ascension to the job, on a temporary basis — have been widely expected.

In an odd exchange with reporters on Thursday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs would say only that Obama will make a “personnel announcement” Friday morning in the East Room.

“The president will have a personnel announcement tomorrow and at that point he will deliver that news,” Gibbs said when pressed by reporters about the nature of the announcement. Obama will make two announcements, he added, presumably that Emanuel is out and Rouse is in.

Gibbs then went on to praise Rouse, without ever confirming that he’s in line for the job. “The type of trust the president and others in the administration have in Pete is enormous,” Gibbs said.

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Op-Ed Columnist - Fire and Imagination - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Fire and Imagination - NYTimes.com

The Obama administration seems to be feeling sorry for itself. Robert Gibbs, the president’s press secretary, is perturbed that Mr. Obama is not getting more hosannas from liberals.

Spare me. The country is a mess. The economy is horrendous, and millions of American families are running out of ammunition in their fight against destitution. Steadily increasing numbers of middle-class families, who never thought they’d be seeking charity, have been showing up at food pantries.

The war in Afghanistan, with its dreadful human toll and debilitating drain on the nation’s financial resources, is proceeding as poorly as ever. As The Times reported on Friday, an ambitious operation that was supposed to showcase the progress of the Afghan Army turned into a tragic, humiliating debacle.

And while schools are hemorrhaging resources because of budget meltdowns, and teachers are losing jobs, and libraries are finding it more and more difficult to remain open, American youngsters are falling further behind their peers in other developed countries in their graduation rates from colleges and universities.

This would be a good time for the Obama crowd to put aside its concern about the absence of giddiness among liberals and re-examine what it might do to improve what is fast becoming a depressing state of affairs.

It’s not just liberals who are gloomy. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll this week found that nearly 6 in 10 Americans believe the country is on the wrong track and a majority disapproves of President Obama’s handling of the economy. Nearly two-thirds expect the economy to get worse still.

Mr. Obama’s problem — and the nation’s — is that in the midst of the terrible economic turmoil that the country was in when he took office, he did not make full employment, meaning job creation in both the short and the long term, the nation’s absolute highest priority.

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