Daily Democratic Wire 8-20-2009

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will be a guest on conservative talk show host Michael Smerconish radio show - this will be broadcast from the White House from 1:10 - 1:30 PM ET. The President wanted to confront the conservatives head on with the issue of health care reform. You can read more here.

At 2:30 PM ET, the President will hold a live conference call with supporters - the continuing campaign organization of Barack Obama, now called Organizing for America, will host the call and anyone can listen in. If you want to watch or listen live and also ask the President a question, click here.

In addition, Organizing for America has a new page on their website entitled "Setting the Record Straight" which debunks all the myths being thrown about. You can read it here.

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1.2 Billion from Stimulus Plan available for medical digital records - today, Vice President Joe Biden and HHS Secretary Katheleen Sebelius will discuss these grants while in Chicago. You can read more here.

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Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) requests change in process to refill vacant senate seats in Massachusetts - obviously concerned in regard to his own failing health and the current upcoming vote on health care reform. Kennedy sent a letter to the Governor, House Speaker and Senate President asking consideration be given to allow the Governor to temporarily appoint a replacement to a vacant seat prior to when a special election would be held. The Boston Globe has more here.

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Initial unemployment claims up 15, 000 last week - for a total of 576,000 based on a new Labor Department report. A Labor department spokesperson said they hoped to see claims remain under 600,000 and and felt signs the recession was ending would be when they fall below 500,000. Reuters.com has more here.

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CIA hired Blackwater in secret assassination program - The NY Times has a good read today on how the CIA hired contractors from Blackwater USA for a secretive program designed to assassinate leaders of Al Qaeda. You can read it here.

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Afghanistan vote concludes and the count begins - initial reports indicated voting was slow and steady despite sporadic violence. The results are not expected until Saturday. You can read more here.

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