Daily Democratic Wire 9-10-2009

George Wenschhof

President Barack Obama has a busy day today, following his health care speech to Congress last night - He will meet with his full Cabinet today. The president also has meetings scheduled with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After lunch with the Vice President, Obama will host the Crown prince of Abu Dhabi. Then, it is a meeting with the Homeland security Council on reviewing H1N1 preparedness. Tonight, Obama will host the Pittsburgh Penguins who won the Stanley Cup. You can read more here.

--------------------

67% favor health care reform - CNN/Opinion Research poll following President Obama's speech last night showed a 14% increase in Americans who favor reform. Prior to the speech, it was 53%. CNN.com has more here.

For those wondering how the President's speech played to the liberal netroots, DailyKos.com has a online poll which shows 76% of the respondents either rated the speech with a "A" or "A-". Go read the post and cast your vote.

Newsweek breaks down the President's speech to six areas and rates them all B+ or A. You can read their analysis here.

--------------------

Democratic challenger to Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) raises $100,000 overnight - yes, Wilson is the knucklehead who displayed no class when he shouted "You lie" to Obama when the President explained health insurance reform did not include coverage for undocumented aliens during his speech last night. Democrat Rob Miller ran against Wilson last year and lost 54% - 46%. Seems the outrageous and nonfactual statements from Republicans is beginning to backfire against them. TheHill.com has more here. Vice President Joe Biden said this morning on the TV Talk Shows he had never seen such a disrespectful act in 36 years of serving on the Hill.

To contribute to Democrat Rob Miller and help him defeat Wilson, click here to go to ActBlue.com

--------------------

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) named chair of HELP Committee - he will take the place of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, after Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who was first in line, announced he would stay as chair of the Senate Banking Committee. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee is currently in the forefront in health care reform. Politico.com has more here.

--------------------

Unemployment claims drop - the Labor Department reported initial claims were 550,000, down from the 576,000 from the previous week. This is a good sign as seasonal jobs are over and those lost jobs would have been included in this report. You can read more here.

--------------------

To receive "Daily Email Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.