Daily Democratic Wire 6-27-2009

George Wenschhof

President Barack Obama sends his condolences to Jackson's family - yesterday, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs released a statement from the president which expressed his sadness of the passing of Michael Jackson. CNN.com has more here.

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House narrowly passes Energy and Climate bill - by a vote of 219-212. There were 44 Democrats who voted against the bill and 8 Republicans who voted for the bill. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he had the votes and he was right. republican Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Oh.) used some theatrics to slow passage when he began to read; page by page, a 300 page amendment presented earlier yesterday by Democrats. The bill now moves to the Senate for a vote. Politico.com has more here.

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Democrats to begin review of presidential nominating process today - after the long convoluted nominating process in the 2008 election, the Democratic National Committee created a commission charged with reviewing and improving the process. Let's hope they do a reasonable job. The "change committee" is chaired by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). They expect to take the next six months reviewing the calendar, superdelegates, the proportional award of delegates by total vote in a state as well as by congressional district. TheHill.com has more here.

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U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq urban centers to begin next week - as part of the overall withdrawal agreement with Iraq. Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al-Malicki is confident Iraq forces can provide safety in those areas. U.S. Iraq General Ray Ordierno will appear tomorrow on Fox News Sunday and CNN "State of The Union". Reuters.com has more here.

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Questions continue as to what to do with Gitmo Detainees - the Obama administration initially indicated they wanted to move toward trials and closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison currently housing suspected terrorists. Congress has been uncooperative in resolving the issue and other countries have not jumped at taking some of the prisoners. The President may be forced to issue an executive order to continue the imprisonment indefinitely of some of the prisoners deemed "too dangerous" to prosecute or release. MSNBC.com has more here.

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