Democratic Chatter 3-7-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

In his weekly address to the nation this morning, President Barack Obama again spoke of the efforts being made to help the struggling economy - you can watch the video of his address here. The President and his family will be spending the weekend at Camp David. This is the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains near Thurmont, Maryland.

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President Obama to reverse ban on stem cell research - It is being reported he will sign an executive order on Monday morning that will overturn the ban of federal funds for stem cell research. The Washington Post has more here.

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Howard Dean for U.S. Surgeon General? - now that Dr. Sanjay Gupta has withdrawn from consideration. Howard Dean is also a doctor, a former Governor of Vermont, a candidate in the 2004 Presidential election and most recently the chair of the Democratic National Committee. We reported recently Dean had returned to work with Democracy for America, the organization he formed after his failed presidential bid. His supporters are not happy that so far, he has been passed over by the Obama administration. Reuters.com has more here.

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410 billion Omnibus bill hits wall in Senate - the spending bill needed to fund government agencies throughout the remainder of this fiscal year stalled in the senate. This may have been the one too many bill with increased funding to come before Congress. Even democrats are fighting with each other over tack ons or earmarks which were added to the necessary funding. The result was a compromise to keep government running for five days until Congress can reach agreement on the bill. MSNBC.com has more here.

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On the foreign policy front, the U.S. has begun talks with Syria - secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced talks were underway with the country that has had strained relations with the U.S. - any break though here would be welcomed in a very troubled Mid-East region. Reportedly, two U.S. representatives; Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro are in Syria conducting talks. You can read more here.

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