Subject: draft briefing memo for your review
From: "Chris Lu" <[email-masked]>
To: "John Podesta" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2008 13:07:53 -0500

Weekly Transition Memo for Senators Obama and Biden

From:    Transition Advisory Board and Staff

Date:     October 3, 2008

This week, the transition board, staff, and working group chairs met for
six hours in D.C.  We will meet again next Friday.

I.             Policy Groups

At the meeting, each of the policy working groups presented drafts of
their strategic option papers.  Here is a brief summary of how the
groups are approaching their work:

Economy - The group is focusing its work on several key areas:  1) the
structure of another stimulus package; 2) the growing budget deficit and
national debt; 3) additional actions that need to be taken regarding the
capital markets; 4) international economic issues, such as trade and
Chinese currency manipulation; and 5) consumer finance.  The work of
this group will help inform the difficult decisions that will need to be
made regarding the spending and tax proposals made during the campaign.

National security - The group is writing five-page policy papers on a
number of different subjects, such as Iraq, Iran, proliferation, North
Korea, Darfur, and legal issues, such as the closing of Guantanamo.  The
group is also looking at previous transitions to put together a timeline
of events that will confront the President-Elect during the 77-day
transition period.  

Energy - The group has laid out a series of key objectives for the
transition and the first 100 days of the new administration:  1)
developing a communications strategy to educate/mobilize the public
about the potentially catastrophic nature of our energy problems; 2)
determining the proper way for the federal government to manage the
energy/climate issue; 3) pursuing energy policy through legislative
actions (e.g., cap and trade bill) and executive authority (e.g., EPA's
power to regulate CO2 from vehicles and power plants); and 4) returning
the U.S. to international climate negotiations and engaging countries
like China in cutting their emissions.

Health - The group is looking at decisions facing the new
administration:  1) should Congress be asked to hold off on introducing
health reform legislation; 2) should executive actions bypass or
precipitate legislation; and 3) should engaging the public on health
care reform be a top priority before the inauguration.  The group is
also examining how the President-Elect should reach out to key policy
makers, private sector leaders, and advocates, and what key health
issues need to be further explored by the incoming policy team.

Education - The group is focusing on three areas:  1) expanding access
to high-quality, early childhood education programs; 2) promoting
top-quality teachers in all schools; and 3) strengthening the pipeline
to and through college.  The group is also examining the reauthorization
of NCLB and the high costs of the campaign's education proposals (in
particular, the $4,000 education tax credit).

Immigration - The group is examining how to put together a strategy for
passing comprehensive legislation in the first 18 months.  Some of the
key decisions being examined are:  1) should the total number of
labor/employment visas be increased; 2) by how much should overall
immigration be increased; 3) what should be the eligibility criteria for
legalization; and 4) should we allow short-term legislative changes
(e.g., expansion of H1B program and employer verification) or insist
that reform be done in a comprehensive manner.

Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform - The group has develop a
series of initiatives for the first 100 days to:  1) improve
transparency by opening government operations to the public through the
Internet; 2) make government more responsive by creating opportunities
for active citizen participation to inform decision making; 3) improve
the effectiveness and efficiency of government by drawing on private
sector innovations to realize cost-savings and enhance government
opportunities; 4) renew the nation's commitment to science, technology,
and innovation; and 5) encourage civic participation and engage the
public in the idea of "shared governance."  The group has also laid out
a proposal for how to organize the government to manage this innovation
agenda.

II.           Personnel

The personnel working group continues to gather additional names for
cabinet, subcabinet, and senior White House positions.  Currently, there
are 800 names in the system.  "Public vetting" - searches through public
records - is being done on 140 people by a team of 60 outside lawyers.
A process is being designed to conduct more detailed "private vetting"
of potential nominees.  The goal is to have the top 100 positions names
by the Inauguration Day.  

A related project under way is cataloguing all of the promises that have
been made during the campaign regarding the creation of new executive
offices or positions.

III.       Vice Presidential Transition

The VP working group has reached out to the Mondale and Gore staffs to
better understand the functioning of their offices.  The VP team is
working to create a paper flow process in the White House to ensure that
the Vice President and his staff are properly informed about and
consulted on major decisions.  Also, Biden representatives have been
added to the other transition working groups.  

IV.       Miscellaneous

We have hired a full-time security officer who has submitted 35 names
for interim security clearances.  Before Election Day, we expect to
submit up to 100 names of people who will require classified briefings
or need to review classified documents.

We have signed a contract to develop a transition website with Blue
State Digital, which is the vendor that manages the campaign website.
The website will be up and running on the morning of November 5 and will
allow the public to submit their resumes. 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Chris Lu

[email-masked]

(312) 505-4864 (cell)