Daily Democratic Wire 12-15-2009

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will be in northern Virginia to promote "Cash for Caulkers" - at a Home Depot store he will talk about his program to help homeowners make energy-efficient improvements to their homes. Time.com has more here.

During the late 1970's we had weatherization programs under the federally funded Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. To date, the president has resisted proposing federally funded public service employment programs that would put those in need to work immediately. This is a much needed program and the president is missing a vital cog in his efforts to create jobs.

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Tonight, President Obama will meet with all the Senate Democrats in the white House - amazingly, with 58 Democratic senators and two Independents who caucus with the Democrats, agreement on health care legislation has not been achieved in the Senate. The NY Times has more here.

Instead of an invite to the White House for a supportive speech, perhaps the president would be well served to take a few obstructionist Senators (Joe Leiberman and Ben Nelson are you listening?) outside to the woodshed for a private talk.

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Representative Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) says he will not run in 2010 - the tongues are wagging early as we enter the midterm election year as he is the fourth Democratic Representative from a red district in the last three weeks to announce he will not run. TheHill.com has more here.

Democrats currently hold 258 of the 435 House seats. Republicans will need to pick up 41 seats in the 2010 elections to gain a one member advantage in the House.

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Climate Control Talks Chill in Copenhagen - reaching agreement among the richer and more developed countries and the poorer and underdeveloped nations have been troublesome. Former Vice President Al Gore is there to work at salvaging some type of an accord and U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) left the health care negotiations behind to lend a hand. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has weighed in saying all major economies must resolve to implement strong verifiable measures. President Obama is expected to arrive Friday. Politico.com has more here.

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Remember the missing emails from the George W. Bush administration? - well, it seems they have been found. Computer professional have found 22 million previously misplaced or mislabeled emails after two groups sued. This goes back to the time when Valerie Plame's identity had been leaked and also a time when lawyers were let go and replaced. Unfortunately, the normal process of releasing known presidential information takes years so it may be 2014 before we know what were in the emails. MSNBC.com has more here.

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D.C. expected to pass "same sex" marriage bill today - after the vote, it will be sent to Mayor Adrian Fenty for his expected signature. The U.S. Congress then has to approve all measures passed into law by the District of Columbia which could take several more months. CNN.com has more here.

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