Democratic News 5-1-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

This morning, President Barack Obama will meet with his Cabinet at the White House - this is the first meeting since all of the Cabinet Secretaries have been confirmed by the senate. This afternoon, he will attend with Vice President Joe Biden, the swearing in ceremonies of Secretaries Kathleen Sebelius for Health and Human Services and Gary Locke for Commerce. Politico.com has more here.

--------------------

Souter's retirement to give Obama first nomination to Supreme Court - Justice David Souter surprised many by announcing yesterday he is retiring by the end of June. While he was appointed by former Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1990, he has voted with the other three liberals on the court. The NY Times is reporting possible replacements include Elana Kagan who was recently named Solicitor General by President Obama and federal appeals court judges Sonia Sotomayor and Dianne Pamela Wood. The NY Times has more here.

--------------------

Federal Reserve and Banks disagree over stress test release - the 19 Banks who received "stress test" reports from the Federal Reserve hold two-thirds of the nation's assets and hold one-half of the loans in the U.S. One concern is how stockholders will react. the reports were due to be made public today but have now been delayed. Bloomberg.com has more here.

--------------------

H1N1 Flu Update - otherwise known as the swine flu, the outbreak has now reached 11 countries according to the World Health Organization - Mexico, where the outbreak is suspected of beginning, remains the hardest hit with the flu. In the U.S. there are now 109 confirmed cases and one death. CNN.com has more here.

--------------------

House passes Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights - yesterday, in a 357-70 vote, the bill was passed to protect consumers from hidden fees and high interest rate jumps. Reuters.com has more here. The Senate is expected to vote on their version of the bill next week. This is a long overdo bill as consumers have experienced automatic raises in credit limits, only to discover later interest rates had risen to unreasonable high rates in the 18-23% range.

--------------------

Anita Dunn to become White House Communications Director - she will replace Ellen Moran who will be leaving to become the chief of staff for Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. Dunn worked as a senior adviser to the Obama campaign and is a well known democratic strategist. Politico.com has more here.

--------------------

To receive "Daily Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.