Democratic News Chatter 4-3-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

President Barack Obama continues his whirlwind trip to Europe arriving in Strasbourg, France - He will meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy whose wife Carla Bruni along with Michelle Obama have captured the media attention away from the world leaders.

This morning he attended a French town hall and received questions from students at the Rhenus Sports Arena in Strasbourg. ThePage.time.com has more on this town hall meeting here. An ambitious statement made by Obama is a hope for a world without nuclear weapons.

Obama also plans to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Baden-Baden Germany today. Next up is the NATO summit.

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Yesterday, the G-20 Summit was very productive as measures were taken to help stabilize the world economy - in addition to the 1.1 trillion pledged to provide loans and guarantees, agreements was reached on financial market regulation and rules on compensation and bonuses. Bloomberg.com has more here.

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Yesterday the House and Senate passed non-binding resolutions on President Obama's 3.55 trillion budget - No Republican in either chamber voted for the budget. The House vote was 233-196 and the Senate was 55-43. The Budgets passed were similar to what had been proposed by the president and now further discussion will take place prior to the expected passage later this month. Politico.com has more here.

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Federal Prosecutors reveal 19 count indictment of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich - as expected the charges relate to "pay-to-play" politics. Also charged were five associates of the former Governor, including his brother and former chief of staff. The NY Times has more here.

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Unemployment now at 8.5% - latest news from the Labor Department is not good. There have been 2 million in job losses this year alone and since the beginning of 2008, 5.1 million have lost jobs. CNN.com has more here.

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