It’s a pretty straightforward message, and it’s not as if he’s saying anything different than what he said on the campaign trail. These are the ideas he promised and now he’s attempting to deliver.
So what are others saying?
OBAMA TO LOBBYISTS: BRING IT ON by Steven Benen

By characterizing his opponents — not Republicans, but special interests [...]

No?
Well tell that to Rush Limbaugh. Because he apparently thinks you do.

Remember when talk like this was called anti-American and traitorous? Personally, I don’t think what Limbaugh is saying is either of those things, but is it tired and sad? Most definitely.
By the way, I understand that many of you have a certain economic philosophy [...]

Kyle’s post yesterday the other day about the need for the GOP to stop focusing on “how” it was going to come back from the wilderness if it ever wants to get back to relevance made a lot of sense to me. The political reality is that the GOP, despite its recent defeats, continues [...]

The biggest economy in America is now suffering from double digit unemployment.
So what about underemployment? Well, that’s probably closing in on 20%.
Just thought you should know.

And it looks like the move by new Education Secretary Arne Duncan could cripple an entire industry in one fell swoop.
From Wash Post:
The Obama administration has proposed a sweeping change in the $85 billion-a-year student loan industry, one that could fundamentally alter the business of lenders such as Sallie Mae.
The proposal, included in yesterday’s budget [...]

Gallup had Obama’s numbers dipping below 60% on Tuesday, the first time that happened since his inauguration.
Today his approval rating is 67%. Not only that, his disapproval has dipped too.

So before the speech he was looking at a +34 approval spread. Now it’s +46.
But that’s the not the most shocking stat.
Apparently, his approval jumped [...]

Earlier today I posted about Jindal’s suspect Hurricane Katrina story and now his handlers are revising the record.
First, the clip…

And now, the truth from Politico:
The spokeswoman, Melissa Sellers, said the story Jindal told in his response to Obama actually took place some days later in Lee’s office — though still in Katrina’s chaotic aftermath — [...]

On a strategy for troop withdrawal and residual presence in Iraq, at least:
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), President Obama’s campaign opponent, went to the White House Thursday for a briefing on the president’s plan for a timetable for a troop drawdown in Iraq. Before heading down Pennsylvania Avenue, he said he was already largely on board.
McCain [...]

John Derbyshire has a great article in the current issue of The American Conservative discussing the impact of conservative talk radio on conservatism as a whole:
[A]re there some downsides to conservative talk radio? Taking the conservative project as a whole—limited government, fiscal prudence, equality under law, personal liberty, patriotism, realism abroad—has talk radio helped or [...]

Okay folks, I don’t care what party or political philosophy you subscribe to, but it’s time we all roundly shun this clearly fascist hack.

Here’s the transcript…
Back in the day, really, when people would talk about our military in a poor way, somebody would shoot ‘em. And there’d be nothing said about that, because they knew [...]

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee takes a jab at John McCain:
“With all due respect, Sen. McCain dramatically suspended his campaign and flew back to Washington not to champion those conservative Republicans [in the House], but to join meekly with Barack Obama in voting for the bailout, a bailout most American opposed,” he said.
Huckabee said he [...]

Citi is getting a third bailout, but some in congress still have questions about the last two.
This is Lagan from ANP,
The once almighty Citigroup is now getting a third lifeline from the U.S. Treasury. This new bailout follows on the heels of a Congressional Oversight Panel report revealing that Citigroup underpaid Treasury [...]

Another unforced error from that widely panned rebuttal.
First, the original story in his own words…
During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office I’d never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: ‘Well, I’m the Sheriff and if you [...]

Just to give you some sense of how bad those GDP numbers are…

We’re officially in cliff diving territory.
(Source: Wash Post)

With the employment numbers yesterday and now these GDP numbers today, I think it’s safe to say that the economy is not getting better.
In fact, these new GDP numbers signal that economists have no idea how bad it may get since it’s much worse than the initial number they were predicting.
From CNBC:
The Commerce Department said [...]

The Department of Defense has altered the policy concerning the photography of America’s returning war dead. Now, news organizations will be allowed to photograph and disseminate photos of flag-draped coffins — as long as the families of the fallen soldiers give permission.
While the no-photographs policy has been in place since 1991, the issue became contentious [...]

Some good news for free speech today: the Senate has used its oversight authority to bar the FCC from reconsidering the Fairness Doctrine.
While President Obama has publically opposed reinstating the arcane rule that required equal time on the airwaves for opposing political views, Republicans wanted to make sure the Democratic-controlled government didn’t recreate the law [...]

Looks like Rush really thinks that Jindal could be the guy to lead conservatives out of the wilderness. Otherwise he never would have gone this far out on a limb to defend such an indefensible performance.

I wonder if we’ll start to see some backtracking about Jindal’s speech from the right-wing media after Limbaugh’s call to [...]

Much higher than expected.