Democratic Chatter 3-20-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

Today, President Barack Obama will meet with Schwarzenegger, Rendell and Bloomberg to discuss infrastructure and jobs - the Governors from California and Pennsylvania along with the NY City Mayor have formed a coalition called "Building America's Future". They will talk about the need for additional funds for infrastructure projects which will create jobs. MSNBC.com has more here.

The president will have a luncheon meeting at the White House with Leaders of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

--------------------

The President also taped a message reaching out to Iran and others celebrating Nowruz which marks the beginning of a new year. Entitled "A New Year, A New Beginning", President Obama spoke of the common humanity that binds us together.



Download .mp3, .mp4, or .mp4 with Persian subtitles Read the transcript in English or Persian

--------------------

A.I.G. bonuses last straw for Geithner? - the Treasury Secretary admitted he asked Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) chair of the Senate Banking Committee to include the loophole in the Stimulus bill to allow bonuses to be paid by A.I.G. - seems he forgot to tell the president. CNN.com has more here. Meanwhile, the "breaking bad" exercise by the House yesterday to pass legislation taxing 90% of the bonuses is most likely unconstitutional and unenforceable. President Obama did defend Geithner during his appearance on Jay Leno last night. It is not good for the Obama administration to be defending their Treasury Secretary every day when the number one problem facing the country today is the economy. Stay Tuned.

--------------------

Wall Street will be listening to Bernanke speech today - the Federal Reserve chair will speak at noon today at the Independent Community Bankers of America National Convention. The recent announcement of the 1.2 trillion in additional spending by the Federal Reserve to buy securities has some concerned in regard to inflation. Watch to see how the Dow Jones reacts to the speech this afternoon. You can read more here.

--------------------

Blue Dog House Democrats are not push overs for President Barack Obama's 3.6 Trillion budget - the Blue Dog Democrats number 51 of the 257 Democrats in the 435 member House of Representatives. They are moderate and fiscally responsible leaning who believe in deficit reduction and pay as you go government. While they supported the recently passed 787 billion Stimulus bill, do not expect them to roll over as the 3.6 trillion FY 2010 budget is reviewed in Congress. If they voted with the 178 Republicans in the House, it would be a majority vote of 229. Bloomberg.com has more here.

--------------------

To receive "Daily Email Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.