George Wenschhof Bio
Today, at noon ET, President Barack Obama will speak on the status of the auto industry - Rumors have been flying that Chrysler will be filing bankruptcy, yet the president seemed to put the damper on those rumors last night during his 100 day press conference.
Later in the day, the president will meet with Senators John McCain (R-Az.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to discuss reforms in the military procurement process.
At 4:00 PM ET, Obama will make some remarks pertaining to the Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride.
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Obama shines during 100 day press conference - throughout the one hour question and answer period, I kept thinking how fortunate we are to have Barack Obama as our President. He articulated his positions on the issues extremely well and came across in a very calm and confident manner. This had been missing during the eight years of the former George W. Bush administration.
He was clear in defining waterboarding as torture and pointed out correctly that even if useful information had been obtained as a result, there was no proof the information could not have been obtained by using other interrogation techniques. He responded to his critics who claimed he was for big government by saying he did not want to manage the auto industry or the financial sector. He mentioned he had enough already on his plate and those actions pertaining to banks and auto industry were necessary due to the fragile economy. As to the continued Republican strategy of "No", he doubted that would turn out to be a successful approach with voters to the issues facing the country today. He again reiterated his wish for a bipartisan approach in Washington but correctly pointed out the voters had also called for change.
He started off the press conference with warnings on the new flu strain outbreak in the U.S. and provided sound advise to Americans as we prepare to deal with the outbreak. Of course, as I mentioned yesterday, he also thanked Congress who provided him with budget blueprint approval of his 3.5 trillion budget. On the foreign policy front, one statement that caught my attention was when the president said he was confident the nuclear arsenal in Pakistan would not fall into the hands of Islamic militants even though he labeled the current Pakistan government as fragile.
All in all, a good start for his presidency. Here is a full transcript of the press conference and below is a video provided by MSNBC.
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Obama: 'I'm pleased ... but I'm not satisfied' April 29: In a press conference marking his first 100 days in office, President Barack Obama says there is still a lot of work to do but that the administration will be "unrelenting" in solving the nation's problems. MSNBC |
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Dow Jones up 82.27 in early trading - even as news that Chrysler will declare bankruptcy is everywhere, the market continues it's steady climb. At 8268, this is the highest it has been all year. CNN.com has more here. A slight drop in jobless claims was also reported by the Labor Department; down from 645,000 to 631,000. You can read more here. Keep in mind, seasonal jobs become available from now through the summer months. If national unemployment climbs during this period, it is not a good sign for the economy.
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Van Hollen already gearing up for the mid term 2010 elections - The Maryland Democratic Representative is the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. While he acknowledges the ruling political party loses an average of 30 seats in a mid term election, he is targeting seats he feels the Democrats can win. he has identified 29 districts won by Obama in the 2008 election. Politico.com has more here.
The 435 member House is currently made up with 257 Democrats and 178 Republicans. Even with a 30 seat gain by Republicans in 2010, democrats would still hold the majority of seats; 227 - 208.
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