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Thursday, April 7, 2011

Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

White House Budget Meeting Results in No Deal -
time is running out as the deadline is tomorrow for funding of government agencies. A meeting late last night between President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid resulted in no immediate results. The NY Times has more here.

Interestingly, the House will need to waive a rule they just passed, requiring a three day reading of a bill before a vote, if agreement is reached by party leaders.

The one week continuing resolution passed by the House, which includes another 12 billion in cuts, is a non starter in the Senate.

Look to see agreement reached on the budget levels for the remainder of the current fiscal year with a short 3 day continuing resolution passed, at current funding levels, allowing time for the agreement to be written and passed by the House and Senate.

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Gaddafi Sends Letter to Obama -
a rambling letter which asks Obama to end the air strikes on Libya. You can read the letter here.

Rumors continue Gaddafi's sons are negotiating an exit from the country and a transfer of power, The biggest problem is there is no recognized leadership of the rebels.

All indications are this military intervention will result in another long term quagmire for the United States.

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Obama to Announce Columbia Trade Deal -
seems agreement has been reached to protect labor rights in Columbia, leading to a bilateral trade agreement. You can read more here.

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Is Donald Trump the Next Ross Perot? -
a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Donald Trump coming in second among nine contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. Mitt Romney came in first with 21% and Mike Huckabee tied with Donald Trump for second at 17%. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

This highlights the weakness of the Republican field and signals the reelection of Obama may be easier than some will want.

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Donna Brazile named Interim DNC Chair -
I wrote Monday, the new DNC chair would be a woman and to look to see the former Gore campaign chair, Donna Brazile, named. I was close in my prediction as Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) was selected as chair and Brazile named as interim chair. It will take several weeks for the DNC to have an official vote electing Schultz. TheFix.com has more here.

Schultz is from a state the Democrats must win in 2012 and is a regular on the political talk shows. The one big negative is she is a full time congresswoman who is facing reelection herself next year. A breast cancer survivor, she is a hard fighter and champion of Democratic Party ideals.

However, how she will be able to juggle two full time jobs is a big question and not a position I would put her in. I would have preferred the word "interim" removed from Donna Brazile's title.

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Kloppenbrg Wins Wisconsin State Supreme Court Election - Wow!,
is an understatement on the outcome of the contest between incumbent Republican Justice David Prosser and Democratic challenger JoAnne Kloppenberg. After, the votes were tallied from 100% of the precincts, she had a 204 vote lead. She had trailed by 30 points prior to the union busting actions by Governor Walker. FirstRead.com has more here.

This election signals the power of unions have not dissipated and that the action by Governor Walker to end collective bargaining rights of public service employees could become a rallying cry for Democrats in the 2012 elections.

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