Monday Buzz: Optimistic Obama, Sotomayor, and More

Simon had a great quote in the Washington Post last week in Dan Balz's story on the Sotomayor hearings:

Simon Rosenberg, president of the Democratic-leaning think tank NDN, said in an e-mail message yesterday that his party has been far more deft at capitalizing on the nation's changing demographics. He put the Sotomayor nomination in that context, another example, he said, of the party's recognition that the United States will soon be a majority-minority nation.

"If during the next few weeks the Republicans appear to be playing politics with race rather than raising legitimate issues about Sotomayor's judicial approach, it could reinforce the deep impression that the Republican Party's anachronistic and intolerant approach to race and diversity is making them less capable of leading a very different and more racially diverse America of the early 21st century," he wrote.

Rob was quoted in Politico and CBS News about the Obama administration's overly-optimistic financial forecasts:

“They used a rosy forecast, and that’s understandable because a quick recovery makes the rest of the agenda possible. It creates the basis for the revenues you need for health care and climate change,” said Robert Shapiro, a former Clinton economic adviser.

“But it’s also dangerous and risky because if the forecast doesn’t come true, you’ve undermined the basis for the rest of your policies,” he added.

Rob also appeared in the Associated Press discussing CIT's bailout rejection; in the Huffington Post on the IMF's predictions for the global recession; and in the New York Times on cap and trade. From the AP piece:

After spending tens of billions of dollars on banks, automakers and insurance firms, the administration's decision marked the first time it set a limit on the types of institutions it deems too big and too interconnected to be allowed to fail.

"You have to be glad for any line at all — that the government and the taxpayers are not prepared to rescue any financial institution under all circumstances," said Rob Shapiro, a former economic adviser to President Bill Clinton and chairman of Sonecon, an economic-consulting firm.

Finally, Andres was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun discussing a flawed neighborhood satisfaction survey which discouraged Hispanic participation:

Andres Ramirez, vice president of Hispanic programs at NDN, a Washington, D.C., think tank, says the city could have gotten more involved in both designing and executing the survey to target Hispanics.

“There were not enough people paying attention to this community and its importance to the growth of this city,” says Ramirez, who lost a bid to become North Las Vegas’ first Hispanic mayor in 2005.

Because of the low sample size of respondents in general, and the even smaller number of Hispanic participants, Ramirez says, the survey “shouldn’t be used as a viable political tool.”