Democratic Chatter 11-24-2008

George Wenschhof

Today, President-elect Barack Obama will formally announce his economic team - He will be joined by Vice-President elect Joe Biden at the Hilton in Chicago for the 12:00 PM ET announcement. As previously reported, expect to be named the following: Timothy Geithner as Secretary of Treasury, Lawrence Summers for White House Economic Adviser and Christina Romer as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. It is unclear if Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM) will be announced as the pick for Commerce Secretary at this press conference or later in the day.

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

President Bush will address the nation on the economic crisis - not to be outdone by Obama or maybe to show he is still in charge, Bush is scheduled to speak around 10:35 AM ET. This comes after meetings with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other cabinet members this morning. ThePage.time.com has more here.

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

Add Citigroup Bank to the Bail Out List - it was announced the government will guarantee 300 Billion in loans and provide an immediate 20 Billion in cash. The government would receive the option of buying 2.7 Billion in Citigroup shares in the future. The NY Times has more here.

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

Not wanting to be left out, Home builders are asking for a relief package - after all, the financial institutions are receiving all the help from the 700 Billion Bail Out bill and the auto makers are asking for 25 Billion. What do they want? Well, a 250 Billion stimulus package which they are lobbying for and calling "Fix Housing First". The Wall Street Journal has more here.

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

Existing 10.6 Trillion national debt with annual budget deficit of 1 Trillion will hamper new Administration efforts in regard to the economy - when the recent Bail Out bill and the upcoming stimulus bill is added to the annual budget deficit, it is anticipated the annual deficit to be between 1-1.2 trillion next year. The Boston Globe has more here.

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

Just how big is the existing Bail Out? - Bloomberg.com has a column today entitled "Fed Pledges Top $7.4 Trillion to Ease frozen Credit". "The U.S. government is prepared to lend more than $7.4 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers, or half the value of everything produced in the nation last year, to rescue the financial system since the credit markets seized up 15 months ago.' You can the read the entire column here.

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

Will disputed Ballots decide Minnesota Senate race? - the state mandated recount is well underway with about two-thirds of the ballots counted. This first senate recount in Minnesota is a result of the difference between incumbent senator Norm Coleman (R) and Democrat challenger Al Franken only being a few hundred votes out of approximately 2.5 million votes cast. The recount is expected to conclude by early December. So far, there are 2000 disputed ballots that have been challenged by the monitors from the two senators. After the recount is complete, the state canvassing board meets to determine the disputed ballots. CNN.com has more here.

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

To receive "Daily Email Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.