Democratic Chatter 3-27-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

Today, President Barack Obama will meet with Bank Executives - about a dozen executives of the largest U.S. banks will gather at the White House. They will discuss regulatory reform, executive bonuses and other ways to stabilize the financial system. reuters.com has more here.

Tonight, the president and his family will head to Camp David for the weekend. The presidential retreat located near Thurmont, Maryland is fast becoming a favorite spot for the new president.

On Sunday, the president will appear on CBS "Face The Nation" in an interview with Bob Schieffer.

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Obama announces more troops to go to Afghanistan - an additional 4,000 troops will be sent in addition to the 17,000 he already ordered to the country since taking office. He also announced he wants to triple aid to Pakistan to 1.5 billion a year for the next five years. The NY Times has more here.

The pundits are all quickly saying this is now Obama's war and they are right. The "surge" strategy that appears to have helped in Iraq may not be as successful in Afghanistan. Also, increasing financial aid to Pakistan when the government is presently labeled as "fragile' at best, may not be a good idea. The billions sent by the former Bush administration to prop up President Musharraf did little to help in the battle against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

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Vice President Joe Biden will visit Chile and Costa Rica over the weekend - accompanied by his wife Jill, he will attend a Progressive Governance Conference in Chile. he is scheduled to meet with many of the South American Leaders over the next several days. The Washington post has more here.

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Keep an eye on NY special election to fill vacant Congressional seat - On Tuesday, the voters in the 20th district of New york will vote on a replacement for Kirsten Hillabrand (D) who was picked to replace the Hillary Clinton vacant U.S. senate seat. Some polls are showing the race between Democrat Scott Murphy and Republican Jim Tedisco as a toss up. MSNBC.com has more here. If Tedisco wins, what is a heavily registered Republican district, expect the Republican party to widely publicize this as an attempt to show dissatisfaction with the Obama administration.

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Kathleen Sebelius Confirmation Hearings to be held next week - she is the last Cabinet member to be confirmed of the Obama administration. The former nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Daschle withdrew after revelations pertaining to unpaid taxes. On Tuesday she will appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee and on Thursday, the Senate Financial committee. Politico.com has more here.

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