Democratic Chatter 3-1-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

President Barack Obama addresses the annual State of the Black Union Forum - in a video message he talks about how difficult economic times often mean even tougher times for African Americans. He spoke about how the recently passed Stimulus bill and the Children's health care bill known as SCHIP along with his budget will make a big difference in the African American community. Travis Smiley organized the event and Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and RNC chair Michael Steele were scheduled to speak. TheHill.com has more here.

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President Obama to move to rescind Bush administration abortion rule - President George W. Bush signed a rule in the last days of his administration that supported Doctors who refused to perform abortions due to moral reasons. It is being reported the Obama administration will issue new rules soon to reverse the actions by President Bush. MSNBC.com has more here.

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CPAC Picks Mitt Romney for 2012 Republican candidate for President - the Conservative Political Action Conference voted Mitt Romney as the best choice. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal finished second. Romney has finished first three years in a row so doubtful this is any barometer of who the Republican nominee will be in 2012. In fact, with Rush Limbaugh as the headline speaker yesterday, it is a scary thought that anyone CPAC would choose as a candidate would ever become President. CNN.com has more here.

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Billionaire Warren Buffet sees more gloom for the economy throughout 2009 - in a letter to shareholders, he indicated he believed the economy would be bad even beyond 2009. The fourth quarter report for his company Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. showed net income fell 96% to 117 million. Bloomberg.com has more here.

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On the foreign policy front, Israel Prime Minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu is unable to reach agreement with Tzipi Livni - President Shimon Peres named Netanyahu as Prime Minister after a razor thin election with Livni. This is not good news for the region as Netanyahu is more a right wing hawk who does not support the U.S. sponsored two state vision with Palestine. Reuters.com has more here.

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton off to Mideast on Monday - she will attend a international conference in Egypt where she will announce the U.S. pledge of 900 million to help rebuild the Gaza strip after the recent Israel incursion. She will then head to Israel to meet with PM Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni before meeting with Palestinian Authority Leaders including President Abbas. She will reaffirm the Obama administration commitment to the two state solution. On Friday she will be in Geneva to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. You can read more here.

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