Free-and Regulated
With the Obama administration’s attempts to impose Net
Neutrality (tantamount to a “Fairness Doctrine” for the Internet)
via the Federal Communications Commission bogging down, it appears
those in the White House who want to regulate the Internet are
looking for new ways to do so.
In a speech in late January, Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton focused on the issue of free speech in
China and elsewhere and the need for the Internet to be “open” and
protected by those governments that value free speech.
“That speech was the opening salvo for what we hope will lead to
a kind of Internet treaty negotiated some of the global
institutions we have in place,” says a U.S. State Department
source. “It could actually be negotiated through the U.S. Trade
Representative or through State and Commerce Departments.”
As envisioned by the Obama administration, an Internet treaty
would include a regulatory component. “Someone has to monitor the
Internet and make sure that what happened in Iran during the
protests or in China with the hacking doesn’t happen,” says the
State Department source, who would not guess where the regulatory
body would reside.
Hoosier President
While Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels denies any interest, there
continue to be whispers in Washinton that some Republicans are
hoping to persuade the two-term Hoosier governor to consider a race
for the Republican presidential nomination. Daniels, who has kept
Indiana on solid budget footing while most other states struggled,
and who was able to get a true health insurance reform plan through
the legislature, has cited his wife’s lack of interest to see him
pursue national office. Likewise, he has thus far declined to
consider challenging Sen. Evan Bayh during the
2010 cycle, largely due to concerns about the Indiana economy.
Rahm Mates
With all the talk about circular firing squads inside the Obama
White House, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some senior White
House officials with strong ties to President Obama believe that
chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is badmouthing his colleagues while
speaking to reporters on deep background or off the record.
“We know he talks to a lot of the national press, and it just
seems there are some fairly high ranking White House officials
tearing us down,” says a current White House aide. “[Rahm] isn’t
necessarily an Obama guy, and that’s where the rumors are
starting.”
An Obama Foursome
Apparently, if you want to cheat on your wife or spurn the
mother of your unborn child, easily settle your institution’s
criminal efforts to aid Americans from paying their federal income
taxes, or just avoid paying your own fair share, the place to be is
on President Barack Obama’s economic recovery advisory board.
Because that’s where Robert Wolf, chief executive
of UBS Group Americas, the U.S. arm of one of Switzerland’s largest
banks, UBS AG, sits, as do Charles E. Phillips,
president of Oracle Corporation, Peter Orszag,
director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Treasury
Secretary Tim Geithner. Maybe they like to get
together to compare notes.
Roberts’ parent bank, UBS AG, agreed last year to pay the U.S.
government $780 million to settle accusations that it helped more
than 52,000 American clients to defraud the Internal Revenue
Service by hiding their wealth overseas to avoid paying income
taxes. The White House claims that it determined that Wolf’s wing
of the company was not involved, but according to a former Obama
White House Counsel staffer, internal White House research
determined that just about every client involved in this scam at
one time or another was a client of UBS Group America.
Philips became an instant celebrity in January when his former
mistress paid for billboards highlighting his philandering ways in
San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York. Philips, who reportedly has
reconciled with
his wife, kept his mistress housed in an $11 million estate near
his corporate headquarters in the
Bay Area, and bought the estate through the use of shell
corporations in Nevada.
Orszag recently dumped his pregnant girlfriend to become engaged
with an ABC News reporter he recently met at a Washington dinner.
And, lastly, Geithner famously was found not to have properly paid
his federal incomes taxes prior to his confirmation to the
Cabinet.
According to the former White House Counsel aide, who was
transferred from that office after the resignation of White House
Counsel Gregory Craig, each of the above executives answered “No”
to Question 10S of the SF-86 supplement form traditionally filled
out by potential nominees for presidential appointments.
The question:
10S. Is there anything in your personal life that could be used
by someone to coerce or blackmail you or is there anything in your
life that could cause an embarrassment to you or the President if
publicly known?
__Yes __No. If so, please provide full details.
But to date, neither Roberts nor Philips has been formally
vetted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “There may have been
preliminary work done, but those kinds of commissions aren’t a high
priority,” says the former counsel office aide. “Then again,
Van Jones wasn’t properly vetted, either.”
Steele Wars
Despite successes in gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New
Jersey and the Massachusetts Senate race, Republican National
Committee chairman Michael Steele continues to
take hits from within his
own party. He was recently criticized for holding the party’s
winter meeting in Hawaii. And senior Republican Party leaders
continue to mount whispering campaigns against Steele, portraying
him as a money-grubbing, unethical opportunist, who will put
personal political goals before the party’s. The latest rumors
started before Steele left for Hawaii: that he attempted to have
the RNC buy a private jet to ease his travel itineraries.
RNC sources say there is no truth to the rumor. “You hear these
things all the time. Six months ago, he was buying furniture for
his home using RNC funds,” says a current RNC aide. “Now it’s a
private jet. For whatever reason, people in this party can’t get
over having a man who actually wants to lead in that leadership
position. He’s ruffled feathers, but he’s also doing a good job,
and the recent victories show that.”
