Democratic News 4-27-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

This morning, President Barack Obama will speak at the National Academy of Sciences - he is also expected to discuss the swine flu outbreak. The European Union is urging people to not travel to the U.S. and Mexico. The U.S. State Department is expected to issue a travel advisory to Mexico today. Politico.com has more here.

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Swine Flu continues to spread - Yesterday, the U.S. declared a public health emergency which may be upgraded to a travel advisory today. Cases have now been confirmed in France, Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The government has moved to make available 12 million doses of the antiviral drugs which have been stockpiled. Time.com has more here.

People are being advised to exercise good common judgement by washing their hands often, staying at home if they are sick and going to see their doctor if they have flu symptoms.

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Chrysler and GM make moves to avoid bankruptcy - Yesterday, Chrysler announced the United Auto Workers (UAW) union had made concessions agreeable to them, Fiat and the U.S. government. You can read more here.

Today, GM reported they were cutting 23,000 jobs, ending production of Pontiac, and reducing 40% of their dealer network. They also offered their bondholders to swap 27 billion in debt for stock. CNN.com has more here.

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Minneapolis Star-Tribune Poll shows voters feel Coleman should concede - the never ending U.S. Senate seat may be taking a even bigger toll on the Republican party. The poll showed 645 of the voters felt Republican Norm Coleman should accept the recent court decision that declared Democrat Al Franken the winner by 312 votes. Coleman has appealed that ruling to the state supreme court. The poll also showed 73% of the voters feel Coleman should concede if he loses that appeal. Politico.com has more here.

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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown now supports sending troops to Afghanistan - most likely due to the spike in Islamic militants gaining control of tribal regions in Pakistan. The British prime minister flew to Afghanistan yesterday and met with President Karzai and is in Islamabad, Pakistan today. The U.S. Congress is still debating aid to Pakistan. You can read more here.

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Democratic Senators Leahy and Levin want independent inquiry into alleged torture abuse of detainees - Carl Levin (D-Mich) is chair of the senate Armed services Committee and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. President Obama had recently indicated further investigation of the issue would be determined by the Attorney General.

Some argue against the appointment of a special prosecutor or independent panel saying it would deteriorate into a partisan inquiry and the country has seen enough of these investigations since the days of President Richard Nixon and Watergate. The argument is the people have spoken and a new President is in place so lets move forward.

However, no one should be outside the rule of law in America. Senator Leahy has an excellent quote; "I know some people say, 'Let's turn the page,'" Leahy said. "Frankly, I'd like to read the page before we turn it." MSNBC.com has more here.

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