Salon.com > Jay Carney

Who is Jay Carney kidding?

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:11:00 +0000

During a press briefing on Tuesday, White House spokesperson Jay Carney mechanically repeated a line when asked about the Justice Department’s seizure of the Associated Press’ phone records, suggesting President Barack Obama supports a “balance” between freedom of the press and national security.

“The president feels strongly that we need a—the press to be able to be unfettered in its pursuit of investigative journalism, and you saw, when he was a senator, the president co-sponsor legislation that would have provided further protections for journalists in this regard,” Carney said. “And he is also mindful of the need for secret and classified information to remain secret and classified in order to protect our national security interests. So there are — there is a careful balance here that must be attained.”

Challenged on whether the administration had actually managed to strike such a balance, a reporter asked, “This administration in the last four years has prosecuted twice as many leakers as every previous administration combined. How does that reflect balance?”

Must-see morning clip: Jay Carney responds to “Hurricane Scandy”

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:11:00 +0000

Jon Stewart reports on "Hurricane Scandy, the continuing tropical shitstorm that is rocking the Obama administration" and White House weatherman Jay Carney:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Absolutely outrageous: Big Brother is watching

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Over a six-week period last April and May, a flood of new information on our counterterrorism programs came out: a John Brennan speech and high-profile stories that claimed the drone killing program was narrowly targeted; stories revealing that Brennan had recently changed that process and adopted the use of strikes targeted at patterns, not known individuals, in Yemen; and news of a thwarted al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula operation that seemed to indicate AQAP remained a threat to the U.S. eight months after the U.S. had killed Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. It was a frenzy of administration-serving leaks and counter-leaks.

How sincere is Democrats’ new commitment to gay rights?

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:12:00 +0000

When President Barack Obama first introduced his principles for immigration reform a little over two months ago, one notable point of differentiation from the Senate’s framework was that he chose to include same-sex couples and their kids in his plan.

As Stephen Colbert noted on "The Colbert Report," the president’s plan said it would treat “same-sex families as families.”

“What’s next, Mr. President,” Colbert jested, “treating gay people as people?”

But now that the Senate’s Gang of Eight has introduced its immigration bill and it notably excludes the provision that would allow U.S. citizens to sponsor their same-sex partners for residency, the White House appears to be wavering.

When asked last week whether the president was willing to “let that provision go” at a White House briefing, press secretary Jay Carney responded, “It is certainly the case, as the president said in his statement, that not everything in the bill reflects how he would write it, but it broadly is consistent with his principles.”

Will Obama address Social Security cuts in his State of the Union?

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:57:00 +0000

One thing to watch for in President Obama's State of the Union address tonight: Whether or not he mentions adopting "chained CPI" as part of the budget negotiations, a policy that would mean paying Social Security beneficiaries less by adjusting the way cost of living is calculated.

On Monday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that raising the Medicare eligibility age is not an option, but again indicated that chained CPI is still on the table. From the official transcript of Carney's press briefing:

White House expects Senate confirmation of Hagel

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:44:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says it expects the Senate to confirm Chuck Hagel to be the next defense secretary despite his struggles at a contentious confirmation hearing.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Friday that President Barack Obama thinks Hagel will be an excellent Pentagon chief.

He dismissed criticism of Hagel's less-than-stellar performance over nearly eight hours of testimony under withering attacks from fellow Republicans.

Democrats hold the majority in the Senate and no Democrats has expressed opposition to Hagel.

Republican foes grew on Friday as Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said he would oppose the nomination. Blunt is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Best worst reactions to that Obama presidential library story

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:01:00 +0000

The Daily Mail reported Wednesday that "Former President Ronald Reagan's childhood Chicago home to be demolished and turned into parking lot - but could it be for Obama's Presidential Library?" The right, predictably, was outraged, but White House Press Secretary Jay Carney threw cold water on story:

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The story initially gained traction about a month ago, when a conservative journalist, Mary Claire Kendall, wrote about it for the Washington Examiner. At the time, the story was picked up by a few bloggers, like Judi McLeod of the Canada Free Press."To the beat of Joni Mitchell’s song, Big Yellow Taxi running in the background, we’re calling on Michael Reagan and NewsMax.com to come to the rescue of an American tragedy in the making," McLeod wrote.

Biden turns to video game industry for help with guns

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:56:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — Looking for broader remedies to gun violence, Vice President Joe Biden is reaching out to the video game industry for ideas as the White House seeks to assemble proposals in response to last month's massacre at a Connecticut elementary school.

Biden is scheduled to meet with video game representatives Friday as the White House explores cultural factors that may contribute to violent behavior.

The vice president, who is leading a task force that will present recommendations to President Barack Obama on Tuesday, met with other representatives from the entertainment industry, including Comcast Corp. and the Motion Picture Association of America, on Thursday.

Friday's meeting comes a day after the National Rifle Association rejected Obama administration proposals to limit high-capacity ammunition magazines and dug in on its opposition to an assault weapons ban, which Obama has previously said he will propose to Congress. The NRA was one of the pro-gun rights groups that met with Biden during the day.

NRA president David Keene, asked Friday if the NRA has enough support in Congress to fend off legislation to ban sales of assault weapons, indicated it does. "I do not think that there's going to be a ban on so-called assault weapons passed by the Congress," he said on NBC's "Today."