Sunday Morning "Talking Heads" 12-14-2008

George Wenschhof Bio

The discussion this morning will be dominated by the Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich "pay to play" scandal. On Friday, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a motion with the state Supreme Court to remove him from office. She was using the statute that covers a representative being incapacitated due to illness. It will be interesting to see the ruling on the request. This comes after all the leading Democrats, including the President-elect called on the Governor to resign. It is very likely his resignation could occur prior to the airing of the Sunday morning political talk shows.

Expect conversation to also cover how President-elect Barack Obama has handled the situation so far. He has not been implicated in any way, although it is obvious someone either close or in his incoming administration had conversations with Blagojevich over the filling of the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Obama. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D) has already criticized Obama's handling of the situation by saying Obama should have just said it is obvious someone had discussions with the Governor.

The other story that will dominate the talk shows this morning is the failed 14 Billion auto bailout bill. Southern Republican Senators were among those who broke ranks with President George W. Bush to defeat the bill in the Senate. Some of those Senators have foreign car manufacturing companies in their states whose workers are not members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. Speculation is some Senators wanted to break the back of the UAW by demanding concessions that were not forthcoming as negotiations were unfolding on the auto bailout bill.

Speculation on who will be the remaining Cabinet picks may take place this morning along with thoughts on the upcoming announcement of Steven Chu for Energy Secretary.

Check your local listings for the time in your area for the following Sunday Morning "Talking Heads":

NBC "Meet The Press" - David Gregory begins as host for the program today and will have Illinois Attorney General Lisa Magidan and Illinois Lt. Governor Pat Quinn, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D), and former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Mass.).

ABC "This Week" - George Stephanopoulos will interview senator John McCain (R-Az.). the roundtable will include Gwen Ifill, George Will, Paul Krugman and Gerald Seib.

CBS "Face The Nation" - Bob Schieffer will have as guests Lisa Madigan - Illinois Attorney General, Republican Senators Sherrod Brown (Oh.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.) who are both on the Senate Banking Committee. Also Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.)

Fox News Sunday - Chris Wallace will interview Senators Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.).

CNN "Late Edition" - Wolf Blitzer has Senators John Ensign (R-Nev.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.). Also political strategists Ed Rollins, James Carville and David Gergen.

CNN "Fareed Zakaria "GPS" - Fareed Zakaria is the host of this show which airs at 1:00 PM ET. I have only watched a few shows but I can already say Mr. Zakaria is very good and this is a show worth watching. Today, his guest is former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

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