Daily Democratic Wire 3-3-2010

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will lay out the way forward in health care reform - he will give his remarks at 1:45 PM from the White House. It remains to be seen as to how strongly he advocates for the use of "budget reconciliation" to pass amendments to the already approved Senate version of the health care reform bill. Expect him to say it is time for an up or down vote on the comprehensive reform bill and that a piece meal approach advocated by Republicans will not work.

Yesterday, the President sent a letter to Congressional leadership outlining four more ideas put forward by Republicans he wants included in the bill. MSNBC.com has more here.

It is past time to approve health care reform for Americans, so let's hope this passes quickly.

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Job Cuts in February lowest since July 2006 - 42,000 planned cuts by employers last month is lowest since the 37,178 in July 2006. In January 2009, the month Obama took office, the reported job cuts were 241,749. Stimulus anyone? TPM.com has more here.

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Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) to take leave of absence from chair of the House Ways and Means Committee - this comes after receiving a rebuke from the House Ethics Committee last week for receiving free corporate travel to the Caribbean. He is still under investigation by the Ethics Committee for several other issues. Politico.com has more here.

The decision by Rangel to step aside came as pressure was mounting from both sides of the aisle for him to do so. It is possible, if Rangel is found innocent of any wrong doing from the Ethics Committee, that he could then move back into his chair position.

Look to see Representative John Lewis (D-Ga.) named as his temporary replacement as chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

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Texas Governor Rick Perry wins primary - with 51% of the vote, he avoids a run off election. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a one time favorite, received 30% and a third Republican candidate; Debra Medina received 19% of the vote.

On the Democratic side, Houston Mayor Bill White easily won against Farouk Shami. Time.com has more here.

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Field clears for Kirsten Gillibrand in NY Senate race - shortly after Harold ford announced he would not challenge his fellow Democrat in the primary, NY publishing magnate Mort Zuckerman announced he would not be running against her. Gillibrand is who replaced Hillary Clinton when she was appointed to Secretary of State. Chris Cillizza and "The Fix" has more here.

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