Daily Democratic Wire 6-30-2009

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will discuss community service programs - which are happening across the United States. He will give his speech from the White House.

Also today, some new ways to track spending and hold government accountable will debut on the USASpending.gov website. Politico.com has more here.

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Obama approval rating stays high - The latest CNN/Opinion Research poll shows the president with a 61% approval rating. To read more details on the poll, CNN.com has more here.

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Supreme Court rules in favor of white firefighters - in a split 5-4 decision, the court reversed an appeals court decision pertaining to tests used to determine hiring. Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor was involved in the appeals court decision and expect some Republicans to try to make a big deal out of this. The NY Times has a good read here which points out the supreme court ruling offers little guidance on fair hiring.

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Obama speaks out against Honduras Coup - he, along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are calling the action that removed President Manuel Zelaya illegal. Zelaya was put on a plane and flown to Costa Rica. A interim President Roberto Micheletti has been appointed by the Honduran Congress. The action taken to remove Zelaya was a result of his wanting to serve another term which required a constitutional referendum approving his bid for reelection. The highest court ruled the referendum was illegal. Stay Tuned. TheHill.com has more here.

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U.S. troops complete withdraw from Iraq Cities - as the first step of the overall agreement of U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared a National Sovereignty Day and fireworks went off in Baghdad. Concern remains among some as to the readiness of the Iraq security forces. Reuters.com has more here.

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Oil companies line up to bid for Iraq oil and gas - thirty-two international companies will bid today for 20 year service contracts. This is the first time these companies have been allowed in Iraq for close to thirty years. Pay close attention to who is rewarded with these contracts as many have argued the U.S. intervention in Iraq was all about their oil and gas reserves. The Wall Street journal has more here.

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