Daily Democratic Wire 6-19-2009

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will be busy attending many events across D.C. - beginning with a speech to the Esperanza National Conference during breakfast at the JW Marriot hotel. You can read more here. He is also promoting the importance of being a Father with Father's Day approaching. After visiting a non-profit which helps prepare young adults for their future, he will host males from local high schools at the White House. Tonight, he will attend the annual Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner.

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Iran Supreme Leader says vote was not rigged - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke at a morning prayer service in Tehran this morning. He went on to call for peace and tranquility while praising the reported high (85%) turnout of voters. Time.com has more here.

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Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) threatens to demand a delay of the confirmation hearing of Sonia Sotomayor - in what has become a tired Republican refrain, he says they are lacking documents they had requested from the supreme court justice nominee, including 50 speeches. TheHill.com has more here.

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Health care reform continues to receive strong opposition - one could easily say that if health care reform measures are not implemented when a Democrat is president and Democrats have a majority in the House and Senate, then reform will never happen in America. The reported cost of 1 Trillion over ten years put out by the CBO has moderate Democrats questioning the health care proposals being circulated. Politico.com has a good read here.

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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner begins pitch to Congress of Obama's plan for Financial Regulatory Reform - like health care reform, expect this to receive plenty of criticism. However, it was due to years of deregulation that led to the financial collapse facing America today. The president's plan calls for more authority for the federal reserve, the creation of a consumer protection agency, and to also bring currently unregulated financial markets under government oversight. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Will U.S. - Cuba Talks resume? - the overblown discussion on this tends to be somewhat ridiculous. Why would you not want discussions is the better question. Twice a year discussions between the two countries have been going on for years until suspended by the George W. Bush administration in 2004. McClatchydc.com has more here.

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