Democratic Chatter 11-26-2008

George Wenschhof

President-elect Barack Obama will hold his third press conference in three days this morning at 10:45 AM ET - He will announce the formation of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board designed to help stabilize the financial markets and create jobs. He will name Paul Volker, a former Federal Reserve Chair to head up the Board. Austan Goolsbee will be named the staff director for the Board. The remaining Board members will be chosen from outside government. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

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Obama wants to trim wasteful spending from federal budget - yesterday, when he announced Peter Orszag as director of OMB, Obama also spoke of the need for belt tightening. The NY Times has more here.

Over the years, trying to get a grip on the federal budget has been a goal for many Republicans and fiscally responsible Democrats with a lack of success. Remember President Reagan and his Budget director Stockman? They were going to trim the unnecessary spending from the federal budget but had little effect. The lack of a line item veto and earmarks are two of the factors that have lead to the bloated bureaucracy that exists today. Let's see how President-elect Barack Obama working with a Democratic controlled congress can do in these areas. With the economy in critical condition, the Democrats may just be able to accomplish these needed budget reforms.

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Obama to meet with Governors on Tuesday in Philadelphia - another good move by the President-elect. He called the meeting and invited all Governors to attend the conference on the impact the economy is having on state budgets. National Governor Association chair Governor Ed Rendell (D-PA) and co-chair Governor Jim Douglas (R-VT) will host the one day conference at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Swamppolitics.com has more here.

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Expect Obama to announce national defense and security team next week - the long awaited formal announcement of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for Secretary of State should take place early next week now that the economic team has been announced. Additional names expected to be announced will be Robert Gates staying on as Defense Secretary, Retired General Jim Jones as National Security Adviser, and retired Admiral Dennis Blair as Director National Intelligence. John Brennan has removed himself from the running for CIA Director. CNN.com has more here.

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Iraq Parliament scheduled to vote on US security agreement today - the agreement calls for the withdraw of US troops by 2012. Other conditions include the removal of US troops from Iraq cities by summer of 2009 and informing the Iraq government of any planned military action. McClatchydc.com has more here.

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Maryland Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings will not seek chair of Oversight Committee - although he was being urged to run for the position which became open after Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calf) defeated John Dingell (D-Mich) for chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee. It is expected Representative Edolphus Towns (D-NY) will become the chair of the Oversight Committee. TheHill.com has more here.

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Yesterday, Barbara Walters of ABC interviewed Barack and Michelle Obama in Chicago - it will air tonight at 10:00 PM ET. In a preview teaser, ABC News has some of the transcript and some video of the interview here.

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