Daily Democratic Wire 9-17-2009

George Wenschhof

Tonight, President Barack Obama will host a private viewing of the Documentary "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" - Ken Burns directed the PBS documentary and joining the president will be Interior Secretary Salazar and members of Congress. Politico.com has more here. Some local readers may remember former Frederick County Commissioner Board President Ron Sundergill. He and his wife now reside in California and he is Director-Pacific region for the National Parks Conservation Association.

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Unemployment claims drop and New Home construction is highest in nine months - new claims were down by 12,000 according to the latest Labor Department report. federal reserve chair Ben Bernanke recently said the worst of the recession is probably over but he expected moderate grow with unemployment figures being slow to come down. Bloomberg.com has more here.

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Baucus Senate Health Care bill receives a thorough examination - the CBO has placed the price tag at 774 Billion over next ten years. While may have already taken shots at the bill, there is much to like from all sides. The Washington post has more here.

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Obama administration will announce they will not pursue Bush administration plan for a missile shield in Eastern Europe - instead of planning to deploy missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic which has angered the Russians, shorter ranged defensive missiles will be deployed on ships and then later either in Turkey or southern Europe. The NY Times has more here.

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Commission begins review of U.S. financial meltdown - Congress appointed this ten member commission and provided a five million budget to review the reasons the financial sector failed and to provide recommendations to prevent future problems. They are charged with releasing their findings by December 2010 - this will be after the 2010 mid-term elections and probably after Congress acts on financial regulatory reform. The Boston Globe has more here.

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