Democratic News Chatter 4-24-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

Today, President Barack Obama will discuss rising tuition costs - middle-class families have been hit hard by increases in tuition and this afternoon the president will meet with one of those families.

Next week, on Wednesday April 29, the president will hold his third prime time press conference. It is scheduled for 8:00 Pm ET. It also happens to fall on the 100th day of his presidency so expect a recap of what has transpired in the first 100 days.

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Ford Motor Company, the only U.S. auto maker not accepting government aid reports first quarter loss smaller than expected - the first quarter loss was 1.8 billion. They cut their cash consumption by 49% in the quarter to 3.7 billion down from 7.2 billion. Bloomberg.com has more here.

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First quarter profits of U.S. corporations up from 4th quarter numbers of last year - reports are still coming in, but with 25% of the S&P companies reporting so far showed an average annual decline of 36%. This is compared to the 67% decline in fourth quarter profits. positive growth is expected to be reached in the fourth quarter of this year. Reuters.com has more here.

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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to meet with Finance Ministers of Group of Seven nations today - He is expected to outline the U.S. plans to fix the banking system. You can read more here.

Also today, the 19 largest U.S. banks will be told how they performed under the government "stress test" initiated by Geithner. The Washington Post has more here.

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Prospects for Republican win in NY district 20 race dismal - much to the dismay of RNC chair Michael Steele who had tried to put the spotlight on the outcome of this race as a positive for the Republican party. As of last night Democrat Scott Murphy had increased his lead over Republican Jim Tedisco to 401 votes. Only 600 absentee ballots remain to be counted. Politico.com has more here.

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On the foreign policy front, Iraq is still a dangerous place - in just the last day, suicide bombings have resulted in over 140 deaths and 240 wounded. The bombings occurred in Baghdad and a nearby province and appeared to target Shiites. The NY Times has more here.

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Pakistan Taliban Leader orders withdraw from Buner district - perhaps realizing this presence was just too close to the capitol of Islamabad. Keep an eye on these developments as Pakistan's current government is fragile, at best. They are also a country known to have a nuclear arsenal of approximately 100 warheads. Reuters.com has more here.

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