Daily Democratic Wire 8-18-2009

George Wenschhof

This after, President Barack Obama will meet with former President Bill Clinton - the White House meeting will surely include a discussion of Clinton's meeting with North Korea President Kim Jong-il which led to the release of the American Journalists. Reuters.com has more here.

President Obama will also meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak - expect talks to center around normalizing relations with the U.S. which went cold during the previous George w. Bush administration. However, the main thrust of the discussion will center on peace in the Middle East. You can read more here.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also meets with the President today. She will be discussing her trip to Africa.

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Obama to debut on www.BlogTalkRadio.com - on Wednesday at 5 PM ET on a program entitled "40 Minutes for Health Reform". The program is hosted by a coalition of pro-reform multi-denominational faith groups. The first 30 minutes will be stories from faith based leaders. the president will speak in the final 10 minutes of the show. CNN.com has more here.

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Liberal members of Congress press for public option to be included in health care reform - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) continues to state the votes are there for passage in the House. Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) also remains committed to the public option. Stay tuned. Politico.com has more here.

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Wonder what a non-profit health care co-op is? - you are not alone. As this option is receiving more attention in Congress, people are wondering what does it entail and provide. AP published some questions and answers from various people involved in the discussion including senator Kent Conrad (D-ND). You can read them here.

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Commerce Department reports mixed results in Housing starts - overall new construction dropped 1% in July for the first time in three months. However, single-family starts were the highest since October 2008. Bloomberg.com has more here.

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