Daily Democratic Wire 1-14-2010

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will address the nation on U.S. efforts to aid Haiti - the U.S. has dispatched marines, hospital equipped cruisers, helicopters and more to help the disaster struck nation of Haiti. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have agreed to help spearhead the U.S. effort. You can read more here.

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Health Care negotiations continue - a bill is expected to be sent to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) early next week for cost estimates. The President wants the bill on his desk for signature prior to his "State of the Union" address. Politico.com has more here.

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New tax on banks unveiled today - President Obama will explain the tax on financial institutions, brokerages and insurance companies with assets exceeding 50 Billion. It is designed for them to pay back the bail-out funds at a faster pace than previously agreed to. 90 billion is expected to be received in the next ten years. The NY Times has more here.

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Today, the second day of Congressional hearings begin by the bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission - not much press has been given to this important commission who hopefully is grilling the executives of the financial institutions that put the U.S. on the brink of the worst depression in the history of our country. The Washington Post has an update here.

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House Democratic Caucus Retreat being billed as Jobs Summit - the focus is on job creation and the economy. President Obama will address them late afternoon today and former President Bill Clinton will speak tomorrow. Also speaking is Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who recently made a decision to stop censuring their search engines for the Chinese government. TheHill,com has more here.

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