Democratic Chatter 3-26-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

Today, President Barack Obama will answer questions from you - in a online town hall meeting, the president will answer questions on the economy that were previously submitted online beginning at 11:30 AM ET. WhiteHouse.gov will have his answers here.

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5.5 million receiving unemployment - the figures were up slightly from the previous report from the Labor Department. The Commerce Department also released the year end report for 2008 which showed what everyone already knew - the economy had shrank 6.3%. You can read more here. Pay attention to the unemployment claims as we are heading into a traditional seasonal employment gain period. A bad sign would be continued rising unemployment claims.

Meanwhile, unless the Dow Jones tanks big time today and tomorrow, this will mark the third straight week in gains. Too early to get excited and it is still at 50% of it's high mark. However, this is a good sign.

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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will appear before Congress today - he will be proposing new regulatory measures needed to prevent future financial collapses. The president alluded to this in his address to the nation Tuesday night. CNN.com has some of the details here. Expect financial institutions, such as A.I.G., to fall under regulatory control similar to banks. They are presently outside of the system. Also expect some talk about the size of Banks. Remember the breakup of monopolies after the "Great Depression"? The U.S. financial system should not be put in a situation where a Bank is too big to fail.

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Obama's Budget voted out of House committee - it will go to the full House for consideration next week. Minor changes were made, but the budget still equals 3.45 trillion. The vote was 24-15 with all the Democrats voting in favor and all the Republicans on the committee voting against the budget. TheHill.com has more here.

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Chrysler and GM ask for additional Billions - the auto Industry Task force established by President Obama is set to provide an additional 22 Billion to the auto makers. Also expected are some guidelines and a timeline for those changes to be made. The Obama administration does not want to see them enter into bankruptcy. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Senate votes not there to pass Emplyee Free Choice Act - it is becoming increasingly likely the bill will not be presented for a vote until after the 2010 midterm elections. The bill which would make it easier for workers to form unions does not have the 60 votes needed in the Senate to prevent a filibuster. Senator Arlen Specter(R-Pa.) who is facing a tough reelection campaign has already signaled his opposition to the bill. Politico.com has more here.

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