Democratic Chatter 2-12-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

Today, President Barack Obama heads to Illinois to continue to sell his Stimulus bill - his first stop is East Peoria and a Caterpillar plant. Then, he is off to Springfield to speak at a Banquet celebrating Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. You can read more here.

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House-Senate conference committee reaches compromise on Stimulus bill - within 24 hours of when the Senate voted to approve the bill, agreement on a 789 Billion compromise bill was reached. Some of the breakdown of the spending is as follows: 275 billion on tax relief, 150 billion on new building and infrastructure and 54 billion for aid to states. It is anticipated the bill will be signed by the President no later than Monday. The NY Times has more here.

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Meanwhile, the U.S. Budget Deficit reaches 529 Billion in just the first four months of the year - the federal fiscal year begins in October. The deficit for the month of January alone was 83.8 billion. When the stimulus bill is added, the deficit spending for this year could reach 2 Trillion. This would be added to the existing national debt of 10.7 Trillion. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Clinton expected to name Stephen Bosworth special envoy to North Korea - he is a former state department official. CNN.com has more here. Interesting to follow some of the nuances of the special envoy announcements. George Mitchell (Middle East) and Richard Holbrooke (Afghanistan/Pakistan) were both announced by President Obama. When Mitchell returned from a recent trip to the Middle East, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared in a photo-op with the President and Mitchell when Mitchell briefed the President on his trip.

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D.C. voting rights bill clears Senate committee - for some time the District has been lobbying for representation in Congress. in 2007, the bill fell three votes short of the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster in the Senate. This would give D.C. one House seat. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee voted 11-1 to send the bill for a full Senate vote. The lone Senator to vote against the bill was John McCain (R-Az.). The Washington Post has more here.

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