Daily Democratic Wire 1-8-2010

George Wenschhof

Yesterday, President Barack Obama spelled out changes which will go into effect as a result of internal reports pertaining to the attempted airline bombing - more data will be shared between intel agencies and 1 billion in state of the art scanners will be installed at airports around the country. While saying we were at war with Al Qaeda, the President stressed "we will not sacrifice individual freedoms for security." The NY Times has more here.



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Unemployment remains at 10% - in a stark reminder of what is impacting Americans the most, the Labor Department reported an additional 85,000 jobs were lost in December. The President will hold a press conference early this afternoon to talk about job creation. Politico.com has more here.

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Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will support Denver Mayor John Hickenpooler for Governor of Colorado - after Governor Bill Ritter announced he would not be seeking reelection, Salazar was rumored to be running. TheHill.com has more here.

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Gay Marriage defeated in New Jersey - the state Senate vote yesterday was 20-14. New Jersey does allow civil unions. Only five states; Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Iowa and Vermont currently allow gay marriage. CNN.com has more here.

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates will continue at least another year - in a somewhat unusual agreement, Gates continues to serve if he wants to and the President agrees. He informed the President before Christmas he would serve another year. Gates served in the same position the last two years of the George W. Bush administration. You can read more here.

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Massachusetts Senate special election closer than Democrats would like - Democrat Martha Coakley is still expected to win the contest on January 19 to replace the late Senator Ted Kennedy. But, polls are showing a closer race against Republican Scott Brown than Democrats would like to see at this point. The NY Times has more here.

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