Democratic Chatter 2-23-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

President Barack Obama will name a Stimulus bill Oversight Board today - the Director of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board will be Earl Devany. Mr. Devany was a former fraud investigator. Vice President Joe Biden will make sure regular reports are posted on recovery.gov so Americans can track the progress. Politico.com has more here.

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Many Republican Governors support the Stimulus bill - if you were able to catch any of the Sunday morning "Talking Heads" political talk shows, you would have seen California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and Florida Governor Charlie Crist speaking on how the Stimulus bill will be helping people in their states. Two Republican Governors, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Haley Barbour will be turning down the portion of the Stimulus bill that extends unemployment benefits - hardly a sign of their empathy for the situation many unemployed Americans are finding themselves in. So much for Republican party unity on this issue. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

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First Obama Budget due out Thursday - While the woes of the economy have been the focus, there is still a Budget to be submitted and approved. This is in addition to the Bailout and Stimulus bills. Expect expanding health care to receive a major emphasis in his Budget. Reuters.com has more here.

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The Senator Roland Burris (D-Ill) quagmire may lead to special elections in the future - Vacant Representative seats have long been filled by special elections while the Senate vacancies have been filled by Governor appointment. Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Representative David Drier (R-Calf.) will be submitting legislation to change the process to filling vacant Senate seats to a special election. TheHill.com has more here.

This comes after the continuing saga surrounding the appointment of Burris by impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich. Burris was interviewed by federal agents on Saturday. The Chicago Sun Times has more here.

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