Obama financial re-regulation plan out next week -- Beloved high-school QB dies in Iraq -- Cheney doesn’t have 'any plans' to run -- Norm Coleman to RNC? -- Gridiron or Camp David? Presented by Facebook

Good Monday morning. The Obama administration plans to get the AIG bonuses back indirectly. West Wing mindmeld: We continue to negotiate with AIG to bring any payments in line with our priorities, and we also intend to seek mechanisms outside of these contracts to recoup this bonus money on behalf of taxpayers.

Speaker Pelosi: “I have asked Chairman Barney Frank of the House Financial Services Committee to examine options that are legally available to recover taxpayer funds of companies that abuse the privilege of taxpayer assistance.”


N.Y. Times’ Adam Nagourney, A1 News Analysis, “Bracing for a Bailout Backlash”: “The Obama administration is increasingly concerned about a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street, worried that anger at financial institutions could also end up being directed at Congress and the White House and could complicate President Obama’s agenda.”

EXCLUSIVE – The Treasury Department will lay out its financial re-regulation framework next week, with emphasis on preventing systemic risk so we never have to deal with an AIG-type situation again. The legislation is not written yet: The administration plans to work with Congress on details. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank will take the lead.

The Wall Street Journal’s Damian Paletta has new detail on the principles: Treasury Secretary “Geithner is expected to call for the government to have comprehensive authority over all financial products marketed to consumers, including the consistent enforcement of consumer-protection laws related to mortgages and credit cards. … A major component of the plan would be new clout for the Federal Reserve.”

DODD IN TROUBLE -- Hartford Courant’s Chris Keating: “Former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons [R], buoyed by a poll showing that he is in a dead heat in a possible matchup against Sen. Christopher Dodd, announced Sunday that he would challenge the longtime Democratic senator in 2010.”

SPOTTED today, on the 6 a.m. Acela to NYC: Sen. Dorgan. Don’t attrib to me please.

WORD ON THE STREET: The next RNC chairman will be Norm Coleman, after he loses his recount fight and big donors see Michael Steele’s March numbers.

SCOOP – WashTimes: “Angling for a critical Senate swing vote to pass the card check bill that would make it easier to form unions, Pennsylvania labor leaders promised Sen. Arlen Specter that they will switch union members from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party to help him win a tough 2010 primary election.”

DRIVING THE DAY, per the administration: President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will join small business owners and community bank lenders at the White House to announce immediate action to ensure that credit — the lifeblood of America’s small businesses and its economy — gets flowing again to entrepreneurs and business owners. This marks yet another critical step in implementing the Administration’s Financial Stability Plan. Expect details of a new and aggressive effort to unlock the frozen credit markets for small business lending, new reporting requirements on bank lending to small businesses, and plans to temporarily eliminate Small Business Administration loan fees and increase guarantees through Recovery Act funding.

Look for the measures to include: Beginning today, any lender who participates in the 7(a) program can request a guarantee from the SBA of up to 90 percent for each loan. On any new 504 applications submitted beginning today, SBA will eliminate fees charged to lenders and processing fees charged to borrowers. And for any new 7(a) loan, the SBA will temporarily eliminate the up-front fees that lenders pass along to borrowers.

POLITICO’s Carrie Budoff Brown: “The plan … is a way for Obama to show that his economic recovery isn't just for the financial titans like Citigroup and AIG, but for Main Street as well. … Whenever Republican criticize Obama's tax-hike plans, the group they push front-and-center as bearing the brunt is small-business owners.”

AP’s Hope Yen: “In the coming weeks, the SBA will unveil additional initiatives.”

FIRST FUNDRAISER BY OBAMA AS PRESIDENT -- Bloomberg’s Hans Nichols and Jonathan D. Salant, “Obama to Test Fundraising Skills Amid ‘Donor Fatigue,’ Crisis”: “Obama’s appearance at the Democratic National Committee’s March 25 event at the Warner Theatre in Washington, with tickets ranging from $100 to $2,500 per person, will be an early test of his ability to keep up the record-breaking fundraising he achieved during the campaign.”

E-MAIL OF THE DAY, about Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on “60 Minutes” last night, from a Wall Street insider: “The simple fact that the interview was done for the first time in 96 years says something about how serious this is. My inference is that Bernanke is trying to ‘humanize’ himself and ingratiate himself with the American public so he can win the showdown with Larry Summers. Bernanke's term is up in early 2010 and Summers is the current favorites to take Bernanke's job. Ben is fighting back with his own PR campaign. On the economic side, [Scott Pelley] asked him point blank if any banks were insolvent. His voice cracked when he said ‘no’ … My inference is that the banks are certainly insolvent and he just can't admit it. He did not rule out nationalization; just said they would try to avoid it if they could; nothing new there. It's was more interesting for what was not said. There's still no exit strategy. No detail on the bank rescue. No private equity on the horizon.”

ONLINE @ NOON TODAY: Tom Ricks, author of "Fiasco," will answer questions about his new book, "The Gamble: Gen. David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008" in a live chat in POLITICO’s Arena, moderated by Fred Barbash.

OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM -- On Thursday, it’ll be six years since President Bush told the nation from the Oval Office at 10:16 p.m.: “My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger. On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war.” Since then, 4,258 U.S. military members have been lost in the war. Here’s Modesto (Calif.) Bee sports columnist Ron Agostini on one of them -- Army Lt. Daniel Hyde, age 24, killed last weekend in Iraq when his Humvee was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade:

“The trio of Downey High football teammates sat on a bench this week at Chuck Hughes Stadium, clutching Hyde's jersey and framed photograph, remembering their friend. … It's not hero worship when you're the quarterback of an 0-10 football team and your friends think you're Hercules. It's not hero worship when you're the only two-term student body president in school history, a three-sport athlete armed with a 4.2 GPA. It's not hero worship when you graduate 23rd out of 968 at West Point. … [I]n the fall of 2001, Hyde — a Downey junior — was trapped by a teenager's curse. He called the signals for one of the weakest football teams in school history, a band of 22 underdogs asked to trudge through a painful and thankless 10-game gantlet. Regardless, Hyde always believed the next first down would lead to victory. He wore No. 13, after all. Even as the misery played out, he thought bad luck was the other team's problem. [Deshon] Benton, a sophomore that year, was worried that he would not be accepted by the upperclassmen. He fretted needlessly. Hyde took him aside and said, ‘If anyone gives you a problem, I'll deal with it.' Small wonder that Benton, who would become one of Downey's best-ever running backs, idolized Hyde. ‘He would take the worst pounding. I felt so bad that we couldn't protect him,’ Benton said. ‘He got up bleeding, his head busted up, and said, “Let's go.” The next day, he had a little limp. You knew he was hurting.’ … [Derek] Cole said, ‘He was the best leader you could ask for. He came into the huddle with a big smile on his face no matter the score.’”

SPEED READ ON THE WEEK:

1) PAUL BEGALA, on the plan by the White House, Obama campaign, DNC, Hill and outside groups to send a united message in support of the President’s budget: “One of the things that progressives did when we were in the wilderness was build up a new infrastructure -- think tanks, activist groups, P.R. machines – all of which are tuned up and ready to run. If you add to that this dominant, remarkable new president and you’ve got a force that progressives have not had since LBJ or maybe FDR. … We’re now like a team that’s been playing basketball for a number of years: We can do no-look passes. There’s a lot of things that people ascribe to careful planning that are actually not.”

KARL ROVE, ditto: “I think they probably have some kind of data that indicates they’re on soft ground here when it comes to the amount of spending, the amount of deficit, the amount of taxes. … It’s aimed at keeping the Blue Dogs in the tent – they want to make it so toxic to support anything that Republicans might do, and it makes it difficult for the Blue Dogs to do anything but grumble and vote for it. Second of all, I think it is aimed at trying to keep the Republicans on their back feet, politically, for 2010.”

2) The cover of The New Republic is “ SPRINGTIME for SUMMERS?” – “Free Larry Summers: Why the White House needs to unshackle its economic oracle,” by Noam Scheiber: “As at Harvard, Summers functions on exceedingly little sleep. (A former student told me Summers once praised his dedication after noticing he'd run a computation at 4 a.m.; the student didn't have the heart to tell him he'd queued it up at six the night before.) To power through the day, Summers relies on a punishing Diet Coke regimen. The combination of fatigue and extreme caffeine intake can produce the occasional verbal and physical tic: Summers is a chronic foot-tapper and sometimes turns over words and clauses like an engine that won't start. … Within the administration, Summers also appears to be something of a political success. He and David Axelrod, Obama's top political adviser, are by all accounts mutual fans--Axelrod is regularly among the aides who prep him for Sunday talk shows. (In an e-mail, Axelrod raves about Summers's ability to talk ‘about the plight of the middle class, and how most people judge the economy, not by arcane economic formulas, but by how far their paychecks go.’) … In July, when he was still a civilian, Summers argued in the Financial Times that the government should use its ‘receivership power’ over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to wipe out holders of regular and preferred stock and certain types of bonds, ‘conserving cash for the benefit of taxpayers.’ … As the financial crisis has deepened, many economists have proposed something roughly analogous for the country's largest commercial banks. [Tim] Geithner has so far resisted. The Treasury secretary has opted instead to bolster the balance sheets of hard-up banks with capital from last fall's bank bailout, and to provide government financing for investors interested in purchasing depressed assets. … [O]ne can't help wondering if the administration might now be inching toward some version of Summers's FT approach had he been in charge at Treasury. (Summers declined to comment on hypotheticals.) … Correction: This piece originally stated that Larry Summers is ‘slightly below average in height.’ We regret the error.”

3) Chicago Tribune lead story, “Cheney: Obama puts U.S. at risk: Blasts agenda on security, economy and health care,” by Paul Richter: ‘Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that President Barack Obama has intensified the nation’s risk of terrorist attacks by jettisoning key elements of the Bush administration’s aggressive approach. The criticism came in a broad-based attack on Obama during a Sunday news program in which Cheney also disagreed with expanded White House involvement in the economy and denied that former President George W. Bush was responsible for the nation’s financial ills. The White House did not comment. Cheney has sharply questioned Obama before, but the latest attempt comes amid a chorus of Republican criticism that nonetheless has had little effect on Obama’s popularity or his success in Congress. Cheney contended that the key elements of the Bush administration’s approach to terrorism were ‘absolutely essential’ to what he described as its success in foiling subsequent attacks after Sept. 11. In particular, he said, it was crucial that the nation treat the fight against terrorism as a war rather than a law-enforcement issue.”

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Cheney also told John King, in his first TV interview since leaving office:

--On Scooter Libby: “I was clearly not happy that we, in effect, left Scooter sort of hanging in the wind, which I didn't think was appropriate. I think he's an innocent man who deserves a pardon.”

--On his new life: “I get on the BlackBerry and get a lot there. I also own a Kindle now, one of these electronic books. And so I follow a lot of issues. But that's right. I don't get up at 5:00 a.m., I don't receive that CIA brief every morning. On the one hand, I miss it. I've spent 40 years in the business, and so I'm used to it, but this is also the fourth time I've transitioned out of government. I know there are good things up ahead. I'm enjoying spending time with my family.

--On driving himself: “Secret Service follows me around, but they now let me drive myself. And it's been a -- you know, it's a useful exercise to go through. After eight years, I think it's time for me to step down and for others to take over. And that's a healthy thing for the nation. … I don't have any plans to run for office. I also don't have any plans to retire. We've got a lot of good folks out there. I think a new generation of leaders is coming along, people like Rob Portman in Ohio, Mark Sanford in South Carolina, Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan in the House. There are some really, really talented people in the Republican Party. And I look forward to helping them someday if they need my help in terms of whatever I can do to see them succeed.”

4) Statement from Vice President Biden's Spokesperson Elizabeth Alexander: "The vice president's mother, Catherine Eugenia ‘Jean’ Biden, has been admitted to the University of Pennsylvania hospital today after a fall at her residence in Delaware. She is currently receiving treatment and is in good spirits."

5) C-SPAN marks its 30-year anniversary on Thursday -- 30 years since C-SPAN began televising live proceedings from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. During a special segment of Washington Journal, C-SPAN will report updated numbers about its audience size and political involvement of its viewers, based on the results of a new Hart Research survey, and listen to C-SPAN callers talk about what they watch and why. One number from the survey exclusive to Playbook: 34 percent of C-SPAN viewers say they know the name of the majority leader of the U.S. Senate is Harry Reid.

6) Cover of FORTUNE out today – “CAN MEG WHITMAN SAVE CALIFORNIA?” – The former eBay CEO “is eager to fight what will probably be the most expensive governor's race in history. When I mention that I've heard that her campaign might cost $150 million to $200 million, she doesn't bristle. And when I ask whether she's willing to spend, say, $50 million of her own money, she nods … enthusiastically … To talk education, which accounts for half of California's $100 billion annual budget, she visited former Florida governor Jeb Bush. … Meanwhile, she's aiming to slash the state's workforce at least 10% and expenses an additional $15 billion. For budget-cutting expertise, she turned to her mentor [Mitt] Romney … HER RECORD at eBay gives clues to the kind of governor Meg Whitman would be. She was famously hands-on. … In the governor's race, the one person who would probably beat her and anyone else who enters is Dianne Feinstein, the U.S. senator who has broad popularity across California. But Feinstein, ever formidable at 75, recently moved up to chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Though she has long wanted to be governor, [many] people think Feinstein would be crazy to give up her powerful position in Washington.”

7) ASSIGNMENT EDITORS -- Former President Bill Clinton joins former Arkansas Senators Dale Bumpers and David Pryor Friday night in Little Rock for a discussion about their years in politics together, 1974-2000. All three were Arkansas Governors. Bumpers and Pryor were in the Senate when Clinton was elected President. Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty will moderate. McLarty was in the Arkansas State Legislature when Bumpers was Governor and served as treasurer of Pryor's successful gubernatorial campaign.

8) DAVID BOSSIE AND THE SUPREMES – WashPost’s Robert Barnes previews an issue coming before the High Court this week: “‘Hillary: The Movie’ came and went without much of a splash last year. Reviews were not flattering, Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign waned and one devastating critique made sure that the scalding documentary would never become a blockbuster hit. It came from a panel of judges in Washington that said ‘H:TM’ was not really a movie at all. The court sided with the Federal Election Commission and said the film was a 90-minute campaign ad … As such, the film produced by conservative activists at Citizens United fell under the tangle of broadcast and advertising restrictions in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law that dictate how and when the movie can be shown and advertised. … [T]hat meant Citizens United could show ‘H:TM’ in theaters and sell it on DVDs, but promoting it through its planned advertising campaign was restricted. And the prohibitions on broadcast just before an election doomed the group's hope of paying $1.2 million to have the movie available on cable systems around the country via video-on-demand services. … Theodore B. Olson, the Bush administration solicitor general … is representing Citizens United.”

SPORTS BLINK – Bloomberg News: “The University of North Carolina, which received a No. 1 seed for the fifth straight year, is favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers to win the men's college basketball championship for a fifth time. The Tar Heels (28-4) enter the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament as 2-1 favorites to win the title on April 6 in Detroit, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which advises Nevada sports books on betting lines. … Pittsburgh, which has a No. 1 seed for the first time in school history, has odds of 4-1 to win the tournament, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants. Louisville, given the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament by the NCAA selection committee, is the third favorite at 9-2, followed by Connecticut at 5-1. RJ Bell, president of the handicapping information website Pregame.com, estimates that more than $12 billion will be wagered on the 64 games of the NCAA tournament. It starts with tomorrow's play-in game in Dayton, Ohio, and culminates with the Final Four at Detroit's Ford Field on April 4 and 6. …

“Not all Las Vegas sports books have North Carolina as the favorite to add to its 1957, 1982, 1993 and 2005 titles. Jay Rood of the MGM Mirage and Sports Book in Las Vegas prefers the overall strength of the Big East Conference, which grabbed three of the four No. 1 seeds, and said North Carolina may be hurt by a foot injury that kept Lawson out for two games in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Pittsburgh and Louisville are 4-1 co-favorites at the MGM Mirage, while North Carolina is next at 5-1.”

DESSERT – POLITICO’s Anne Schroeder Mullins, “Gridiron singed by Obama no-show”: “President Barack Obama deciding that he is too busy to attend the Gridiron’s annual banquet later this month is a slap. He’s the first president since Grover Cleveland to skip the white-tie-and-tails affair in his first year in office. … Beyond bruised feelings among the pundit class, Obama’s snub is a revealing cultural moment. Gridiron has for decades been an inner sanctum of Washington’s political press corps. The club’s mostly aging members were considered highly prestigious because they said so — and because they had the ability to summon the capital’s political elite to a spring frolic of skits and songs. But if a young and glamorous president decides he can afford to blow off an august and tradition-bound institution, one has to at least entertain the possibility that this institution may not be quite as august as its members assumed. … At first, Gridiron members heard through back channels that the Obama family would be in Chicago during the Obama daughters’ spring break from school. Then, on Friday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said at his daily briefing that the family would actually be in Camp David on March 21, the night of the dinner. … Jay Carney of Vice President Joe Biden’s office sent an e-mail to one of the club’s officers, indicating that Biden would be filling in for Obama.”

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