No surprise here, but on the eve of a crucial Senate vote on health care reform, the White House said Friday evening it "strongly supports" the $848 billion bill.

The Senate is scheduled to vote, starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, on whether to end a Republican-led filibuster and proceed to formal consideration of the health care overhaul.

The White House made it clear it likes the bill, saying it "represents a critical milestone in the effort to reform our health care system." It cites data from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which issued its preliminary analysis of the bill Wednesday.

"This legislation meets the President’s criteria for health insurance reform: it provides stability and security to those with insurance; offers access to quality, affordable health care for those who do not have insurance; cuts costs for families, small businesses and the Government; and does so without adding a dime to the deficit," the Obama administration statement says.

It adds:

"This legislation is the product of unprecedented cooperation and countless hours of hard work by Members of the Senate who share the President’s conviction that the Nation cannot wait another year for health insurance reform. They have forged a strong consensus that represents an historic step forward.

"The Senate legislation includes critical reforms to the insurance industry, so that Americans will no longer have to worry that they will be denied coverage, or that their coverage will be dropped or watered down when they need it most. It covers virtually all Americans and ensures that all Americans with health insurance are protected against high, out-of-pocket spending.

"The Administration is pleased that the bill includes a public health insurance option offered in an Exchange. As the President has said throughout this process, a public option that competes with private insurers is one of the best ways to provide the choice and competition that are so badly needed in today’s market.

"The Senate bill also includes important health care delivery system and insurance reforms and cost-containment initiatives, and it would extend the solvency of Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund. The Administration is also pleased that the bill creates an Independent Medicare Advisory Board. The bill’s Medicare and Medicaid policies promote integrated care, quality care, and primary care. It invests in research on the most effective treatments, prevention, and the health care workforce. It also makes critical improvements for Medicare beneficiaries including beginning to address the coverage gap in the Medicare drug benefit known as the donut hole. In addition, it provides new options for long-term care. The bill includes important program integrity protections that will safeguard Medicare and Medicaid from fraud, waste, and abuse. Moreover, the Senate bill is not only fully paid for, but also reduces the deficit by $130 billion in the first decade and by more than half a trillion dollars in the next decade. "

President Barack Obama dropped below 50 percent in his job approval rating in another poll Friday -- a politically dangerous trend that could spell major trouble in next year’s elections if it’s not reversed.

The Gallup Poll found 49 percent of Americans approving of the way Obama is doing his job, calling it the 4th fastest drop to the sub-50 mark in more than half a century.

It follows polls by Quinnipiac University and Fox News earlier this week that also found Obama dropping below majority approval for the first time.

“Of the post-World War II presidents, Obama now is the fourth fastest to drop below the majority approval level, doing so in his 10th month on the job,” Gallup says in its analysis.

“Gerald Ford dropped below 50% approval during his third month in office, and Bill Clinton did so in his fourth month. Ronald Reagan, like Obama, also dropped below 50% in his 10th month in office, though Reagan's drop occurred a few days sooner in that month (Nov. 13-16, 1981) than did Obama's (Nov. 17-19, 2009).

“But all presidents except John Kennedy dropped below the majority approval level at some point in their presidencies, and all recovered after the first time below this mark to go back above 50% approval.”

Obama’s fellow Democrats know that it’s critical for them that he rebound.

As Republican pollster Bill McInturff notes, a president’s approval rating is a very important measure of his party will do in the mid-term Congressional elections like thos coming up in 2010.

Since the mid-term election 1962, presidents with approval ratings above 60 percent have gained an average of 1 seat in the House of Representatives.

Those with approval ratings in the 50s have lost an average of 12 seats.

And those with an approval rating below 50 percent – Johnson in 1966, Ford in 1974, Reagan in 1982, Clinton in 1994 and Bush in 2006 – have lost an average of 41 seats.

With a 258-177 margin now in the House, a 41-seat swing is exactly the number it would take for the Democrats to lose control.

Which recession was worse, the double dip recession under Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s or the current one under George W. Bush and Barack Obama?

Sarah Palin says it was worse under Reagan, and that he “showed us” the way out, presumably with tax cuts and a massive arms buildup.

Now politifact.com, the nonpartisan truth squad, compares the two recessions on all kind sof criteria, including unemployment, long term unemployment, income, and the value sof stocks. It’s conclusion? The Bush-Obama recession is worse, and Palin is wrong.

“It's no secret that Republicans love Ronald Reagan. So it's no surprise to see Sarah Palin, in her new book Going Rogue: An American Life, burnishing the reputation of the Gipper -- and taking a shot at the current president while she's at it,” politifact says.

“`Our nation is facing great challenges, but I'm optimistic -- and I know there is a way forward,’ she writes. `Ronald Reagan faced an even worse recession. He showed us how to get out of one.’’

The politifact report looked at several benchmarks, including:

--Length of recession: A wash;

--Economic growth: close;

--peak unemployment: worse under Reagan;

--rise in unemployment: worse under Obama;

--long term unemployment: much worse under Obama;

--personal income: worse under Obama;

--industrial production: worse under Obama;

--stock markets: worse under Obama;

--housing prices: much worse under Obama;

--foreclosures: much worse under Obama;

Bank failures: a wash so far.

Politfact did not include inflation, which was much worse under Reagan.

“A number of the conservative economists we spoke to believe that the high inflation of the early 1980s made Reagan's challenge worse.

“But we found significant disagreement with other economists about whether inflation is a good barometer of a recession. Some of them said it can be high in good economic times and low in poor economic times. So we're not rendering a verdict on it to compare the recessions.”

Still, the group said, inflation would not tip the balance.

“Even if we had decided to include inflation as a factor, the measurements would still indicate the current recession is worse. So we find Palin's claim to be False.”

President Barack Obama’s political operation shot back at Sarah Plain Friday, saying she sets the agenda for the right and that she’s using the publicity surrounding her book tour to try to stop health care legislation with false attacks.

“Right now, Sarah Palin is on a highly publicized, nationwide book tour, attacking President Obama and his plan for health reform at every turn,” said an email from Mitch Stewart, director of Organizing for America, Obama’s political operation.

“It's dangerous. Remember, this is the person who coined the term `Death Panels’ -- and opened the flood gates for months of false attacks by special interests and partisan extremists.

“Whatever lie comes next will be widely covered by the media, then constantly echoed by right-wing attack groups and others who are trying to defeat reform.”

Stewart, who used the warning as a pitch to raise $500,000, said Palin is getting loads of free publicity on conservative radio and TV shows at the very moment when health care legislation is facing key votes in the Congress.

“As we approach the final sprint on health reform, we can't afford more deception and delay. We need to be ready for anything -- and have the resources to respond with ads, events, and calls to Congress when the attacks come,” he wrote.

“Earlier this month, Palin publicly said that she hopes health reform will be "dead on arrival." And since then, she's been working fiercely toward that goal.

“On Tuesday, Palin went on Rush Limbaugh's radio show where she outrageously -- and falsely -- suggested that Americans could "face jail time as punishment" if they don't buy insurance.

“Palin has many more interviews scheduled on Hannity and other conservative shows in the next few weeks, with more platforms to go after the President. As soon as she does, the rest of our opponents will likely parrot those attacks.”

 President Barack Obama has named former Bush White House Press Secretary Dana Perino to Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the U.S. government’s non military broadcasts.

From the White House release:

“Dana Perino is the Chief Issues Counselor for the United States at Burson-Marsteller and is a Fox News Contributor. She is the former White House Press Secretary to President George W. Bush - the first Republican woman to hold that position. 

“Ms. Perino previously served in the United States Justice Department, was Director of Communications for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and worked on Capitol Hill for Representatives Dan Schaefer (R-CO) and Scott McInnis (R-C). 

“She holds a M.A. in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois – Springfield and a B.A. in Mass Communications from Colorado State University - Pueblo.”

 
President Obama toured the Forbidden City in Beijing Tuesday, once the home to China’s emperors.
He called the walled compound “beautiful, spectacular” as he huddled against the sharp cold, his hands often in his pockets.
 
After a brisk walk through courtyards and palace buildings, Obama emerged at the Gate of Continuing Harmony and told his Chinese tour guide. “Thank you for a wonderful tour of this magnificent place.”

Obama said later he’d like to return with his daughters.

Democrat John Edwards tried to cut a secret deal with both Barack Obama and perhaps Hillary Clinton during last year’s presidential primaries, offering his endorsement in exchange for the vice presidential nomination, according to a new book by Obama’s campaign manager.

Edwards’ camp made the offer shortly before the South Carolina primary, when Obama and Clinton had split early contests and Edwards apparently believed he had “maximum leverage” to help deliver Southern white votes to whoever would give him the number two spot on the ticket, according to David Plouffe in his book, “the Audacity to Win.”

Plouffe said that Obama ruled out any deals. Obama went on to win the South Carolina primary anyway, and got Edwards endorsement in May, 2008.

The campaign manager did not mention in his book that the National Enquirer already had reported that Edwards had had an affair with former campaign aide Reille Hunter and that she had given birth to his child. Edwards later admitted the affair, but denied his paternity.

Whether the Obama campaign knew about the affair, they wanted Edwards support heading into South Carolina. Obama had won the Iowa caucuses, but Clinton had bounced back to win the New Hampshire primary.

Though Edwards hopes were fading fast to win the nomination himself, he hoped to parlay support in South Carolina into a shot at the vice presidency _ four years after he’d been John Kerry’s 2004 general election running mate.

“Publicly his team insisted they could resuscitate his campaign in South Carolina. But privately, it soon became clear they knew otherwise, and some time after the debate, I got a call from a senior Edwards adviser,” Plouffe wrote in his book.

Plouffe continued:

“This was the pitch: ‘Listen. It's clear unless the race is shaken up, Hillary is going to win. You guys might not even win South Carolina. What would shake the race up is John ending his campaign, but not simply to endorse another candidate. All things being equal, John prefers Barack. They should announce they are joining forces and will run as a ticket. Edwards can vouch for Obama with blue-collar and Southern whites and is running on a change message.’”

The Edwards adviser told Plouffe that Obama and Edwards would be a “perfect fit” and that the pre-nomination announcement of a ticket would knock Clinton off stride, if not out of the race.

“It has to be something that big to slow down Hillary. You need a big shakeup in the race and this could be it,” the Edwards adviser told Plouffe, according to Plouffe’s account.

“I listened intently,” Plouffe said, “and replied that obviously this was something I would need to discuss with my boss. `Am I authorized to raise this offer with him?’ I asked.

“`Yes,’ came the reply. But then right at the end of the conversation, the Edwards rep added a new wrinkle: `Just to be clear, we're going to talk to the Clinton people too. That's not where John's heart is, but he is at a point of maximum leverage now. We want to see what each of you is thinking.’

“My initial reaction was that this was a nonstarter. Of course we wanted Edwards's support and his message was certainly closer in spirit to ours than it was to Hillary's. But political deals like this rarely work; people see right through them.

“Plus I couldn't imagine Obama agreeing this far out to lock in his running mate without going through any process or even being certain that we would be the ones making a selection.

“Obama's answer was quick and firm: he would cut no deals. If he won, he did not want to be locked in to any personnel matters, and he had little interest in deciding on a vice presidential pick in the heat of the primary campaign.

Obama spoke directly with Edwards, Plouffe said, and reiterated that there would be no promises or deals in exchange for an endorsement, Plouffe said.

“Clearly there could be a potential role for him down the line. But if he endorsed us now, there could be no hint of something concrete in the future.”

When Plouffe spoke later with the Edwards adviser, it was “clear” that Edwards had briefed him on the Obama talk. Plouffe said the Edwards camp pressed again that they were still talking to Clinton’s campaign as well.

“The contact said that while John's inclination was to be with Obama, it seemed the Clinton folks were more intent on gaining his support,” Plouffe said.

“He did not allude to specifics, but the message was that Hillary might offer specific commitments,” Plouffe said.

“I strongly doubted that Clinton was offering Edwards anything concrete, and certainly not the VP slot. She knew better than most how important decisions like this were, and I had a hard time believing that even a crucial endorsement on on this level, days before South Carolina, would warrant much more than a thank-you and a promise to talk further down the line.”

Plouffe added that he does not know if Edwards personally sanctioned the talk of a backroom deal for the vice presidency.

Edwards could not be reached for comment.

A CNN correspondent covering President Obama’s trip to Asia was detained by Chinese authorities in Shanghai for showing on camera a T-shirt portraying Obama as Mao Zedong.

The shirt features Obama in a Red Army uniform gazing into the distance in a pose reminiscent of Mao, the late Communist leader.

Chinese characters on the front of the shirt spell out the words, “Serve the People."  The back of the shirt features the word “Oba-Mao” in English.

Emily Chang, a Beijing-based correspondent for CNN, said she found the shirt precisely because she’d heard that they were being confiscated lest they offend Obama.

"Two security guards happened to pass by at the moment I announced to the camera: 'This is the T-shirt everybody is talking about,'" she said in a CNN blog posting.

"And that was it. They scrambled towards us and tried to pry the shirt out of my hands," Chang said. "I didn't give in.

"There was a bit of yelling and quite a scuffle…We ended up being detained for two hours in the cold, maze of a market … crowd gathered round. More security and then police showed up.

"They wanted our press cards, our passports, but most of all, they wanted the shirt," she said. "Finally, they let us go. Phew!"

SHANGHAI _ President Obama’s first big event in China happens Monday, when he holds a town hall meeting in Shanghai. It should be interesting because Chinese will get to ask him questions in addition to hearing his prepared remarks.

The on-site audience will include more than 400 students, and questions also are expected to come via the Internet. The forum also is to be televised. It’s not yet clear just how many questions the president will take, or precisely how questions were screened (or whether any of the town hall coverage will be blacked out or cut-away from in China by government censors depending on what’s said. That happened in China with part of Obama’s inaugural address).

A White House aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make a statement, said that the students in the audience were selected by their universities, that President Obama would decide which of them to call on, and that he’d also take some questions submitted to the U.S. Embassy from Chinese “netizens.”

The White House aide couldn't speak to how Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, was handling the questions they collected. Xinhua's online site asked Chinese to forward their questions for Obama. So did several other online forums. Xinhuanet.com alone drew 3,290 reponses as of last count. A session just on Tibet was being conducted by huanqiu.com

Questions on such forums are all over the map:

Why does Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize when the U.S. is engaged in two wars? Why is the U.S. open to the Dalai Lama, and how would Obama feel if Chinese embraced a leader considered an enemy of the U.S.?

Do U.S. taxpayers underwrite First Lady Michelle Obama’s fancy wardrobe? Does Obama like Kung Pao chicken, and how much wine can he drink at one sitting?

Will Obama elaborate on his stance on Taiwan? How can the U.S. and China get North Korea to denuclearize? How can the U.S. guarantee the security of debt held by China? Will Obama lift restrictions on the export of high technology and weapons to China?

That’s just a sampling.

President Obama is in Alaska, refueling en route to Japan and meeting with troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Among the news from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs en route to Alaska:

--Obama’s likely to hold at least one more meeting on the war plans;

--He will not announce his new strategy for Afghanistan until after he returns home from the Asia trip;

--The US is talking with Afghanistan about benchmarks to measure progress once the new strategy is announced.

“Some benchmarks HAVE been discussed,” Gibbs said. “But…the president believes that we have been there for eight years. And we’re not going to be there forever. … It’s important to fully examine not just how we’re going to get folks in but how we’re going to get folks out.”

 “The embassy there is working on agreements with the Afghan government. … I think it’s sufficient to say that whether on the civilian side of our effort, whether on the military side of our effort, or the governance side of the Afghans’, the President will want – has asked for, and will want – benchmarks to evaluate our progress. That’s part of his desire to get a sense of where we are rather than committing to an open-ended conflict.”

--White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is not on the trip, presumably staying in DC to work on health care.

--First Lady Michelle Obama also is not on the week-plus trip, definitely staying in DC to work on the First Family.  “There are two calculations,” Gibbs said. “One’s Malia. And the other one is Sasha. … She has, first and foremost, that responsibility. And being away for so long, she’s taking care of that.”