Daily Democratic Wire 12-18-2009

George Wenschhof

President Barack Obama is in Copenhagen hopeful for an agreement to be reached - the climate summit has been like the health care reform negotiations back home - difficult! The president has already had a busy day meeting with leaders of 20 countries and holding a private meeting with China prime minister Wen Jiabao. He also gave a speech to the summit attendees you can watch here. Verification measures are what is holding up agreement with the Chinese. Obama also plans to meet privately with Russian President Dimitri Medvedev with hopes of a breakthrough on arms agreement. The NY Times has more here.

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Senate could vote on health care bill Christmas Eve - that is the schedule Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is pushing. Disagreements remain with a few Democratic Senators whose vote is critical due to the fact all 40 republican Senators are voting no. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is not happy there is no public option, Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) is unhappy with abortion language, and who knows where Joe Leiberman (I-Conn.) is at this point. TheHill.com has more here.

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Senate Banking Committee votes 16-7 on Bernanke nomination - the Federal Reserve Chair is on his way to full senate confirmation. However, it is not without some who are not supportive. Politico.com has more here.

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Have you always thought Christmas at the White House would be fun? - well it is, but also a lot of work. 17 holiday parties and 11 open houses are held over a three week period. The NY Times has more here.

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