Will Obama start ruling with "lame duck" Congress before inauguration ?

[cyberianpan]

We're seeing Obama moving fast on naming his administration.

Bush has the lowest approval ratings of any US President.

Democrats have a solid Congressional majority and could run a substantive "lame duck" session:

NYT
Congress could act on the stimulus this month — but only if the president-elect signals that he favors a preinauguration special session, Congressional Democrats said
AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she hopes Congress can return this month to approve spending measures to stimulate the depressed economy. She said much depends on finding common ground with the soon-to-depart Bush administration, which more often than not has been at odds with the Democratic majority.
The Hill
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has yet to decide if he’s well enough to attend the Senate's lame-duck session, his office said Wednesday.
Kennedy will be working from his Washington-area home and is focused on the early stages of healthcare legislation in consultation with President-elect Barack Obama

The economy is very wobbly with significant chance of the US Government needing to intervene.

Obama has hugggggeeeeee political capital right now, as we all know ordinarily such capital dilutes after the "first 100 days". This time I think the rules are different.

My questions are:

1. Should his first hundred days start ticking sooner than inauguration ?
2. Is it feasible to exercise power from behind the scenes ?
3. Is it politically desirable for him to do so ?
4. Will the public expect it of him ?
5. Would Bush acquiesce in the "national interest" ?

cYp

[FutureTaoiseach]

The legal position is that he can't start governing until inauguration on January 21st, and the next Congress meets on January 11th. Remember that he will need to get his govt appointments (except National Security Advisor) through the Senate, and that will be easier with 57 Democratic Senators where it will be harder for Republicans to get 40 votes to fillibuster them. With 57 he can coax liberal Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snow as well as moderate Arlen Specter to help him out.

[East Coast Elitist]

All Congress is going to do in November is finish appropriations for the fiscal year that started over a month ago (Oct. 1).

[cyberianpan]

The legal position is that he can't start governing until inauguration on January 21st,

Yes I am aware that is the legal position, however my whole point is that Bush has diminished moral authority , Dems control congress.

and the next Congress meets on January 11th.

And if you check the sources above Pelosi is on record as looking to have a significant "lame duck" session of Congress in November. Here try reading this:

NYT
Beyond choosing staff members,[COLOR=Red] Mr. Obama must decide how active he intends to be in asserting leadership during the transition. Mr. Obama has conferred with Congressional leaders about passing a $100 billion economic stimulus package in a lame-duck session the week of Nov. 17 [/COLOR]to pay for public works projects, aid to cities and states, and unemployment, food stamp and heating benefits.
But Congressional aides said that if Mr. Obama could not win agreement from Mr. Bush and Senate Republicans, they might scale the package back to about $60 billion, then come back in January with a broader plan.

So it is on the table.

cYp

[East Coast Elitist]

it's on the table (and apparently approps are good until next year, so they won't have to bother with that)--but they're not going to do anything that absolutely cannot wait with a larger Dem majority coming in a few weeks later. Besides, if they come back, it'll just be for one week (the following week is the Thanksgiving holiday). It takes Congress a week to decide on coffee or tea. What other momentous issues to you expect it to address?

[cyberianpan]

it's on the table (and apparently approps are good until next year, so they won't have to bother with that)--but they're not going to do anything that absolutely cannot wait with a larger Dem majority coming in a few weeks later. Besides, if they come back, it'll just be for one week (the following week is the Thanksgiving holiday). It takes Congress a week to decide on coffee or tea. What other momentous issues to you expect it to address?

The $100 billion stimulus itself is pretty large, I certainly imagine it would gain large media attention.

Also as I pointed above and posted here previously, Ted Kennedy is making efforts to get Healthcare plan moving (he's been working with Obama on it) before he gets more unwell.

Also any further sudden crisis involving the economy would likely require congressional involvement.

Overall I think Obama could have a very significant preinaugurational role.

cYp

[East Coast Elitist]

The $100 billion stimulus itself is pretty large, I certainly imagine it would gain large media attention.

Also as I pointed above and posted here previously, Ted Kennedy is making efforts to get Healthcare plan moving (he's been working with Obama on it) before he gets more unwell.

Also any further sudden crisis involving the economy would likely require congressional involvement.

Overall I think Obama could have a very significant preinaugurational role.

cYp

He definitely will--it's already started. But it won't be with the 110th Congress.

[cyberianpan]

It's looking a little more likely now that he will become involved

AP

Congress convenes for a lame-duck session on Nov. 17, and Obama is giving all indications that he'll play a direct role rather than keeping his distance until he is sworn in.
"The president-elect has said he wants another stimulus, the president-elect therefore has views on what that stimulus should be, and the Democratic Congress should take its cues from the president-elect," said economist Rob Shapiro, a top Commerce Department official in the Clinton administration who now is on Obama's team of transition advisers.
The Illinois senator meets on Friday with his economic team and holds his first postelection news conference.

I still think this is a tricky issue, high voter expectations, low rating of Bush, economic matters that require attention now ... my original 5 questions on first post of thread stand !!

cYp

[cyberianpan]

ABC Politics now leading with this story

The Note: Obama Gambles Early By Backing Bailout of Auto Industry
Obama says there's only one president at a time but puts capital on the line in 2nd bailout bill.

A power play is going on now. NYT reporting that Bush might approve stimulus if Obama assures free trade with Columbia. Other sources indicate the stimulus could be heading towards $500 billion.

Obama is publicly silent, yet the above NYT story likely leaked from his camp ... does America have 2 presidents now ?

cYp

[H.R. Haldeman]

He should stay 100% out of sight. Accountability + No power = Disaster.

I think it is very unwise of him to get involved in the auto industry rescue or any possible stimulus package. FDR stayed out of sight after taking over from Hoover and most Presidential historians say this was the wisest thing to do despite the fact he took a lot of political heat for it at the time.

I also think a stimulus package is absolutely the wrong solution to these problems. The only solution is to drive the bad debts into the light, let the bankrupcies happen where they will, and then fix the mess when you at least have full knowledge of where things really stand.