Daily Democratic Wire 3-4-2010

George Wenschhof

Later this morning, President Obama will sign the Trade Promotion Act - it is designed to create jobs, encourage travel to the U.S. and help the tourism industry. Politico.com has more here.

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Unemployment claims drop 29,000 - for the week ending February 27. This is a three month low. However, initial unemployment claims still stood at 469,000. Unemployment is expected to hover around ten per cent for the remainder of the year. Bloomberg.com has more here.

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Pelosi picks Representative Pete Stark (D-Calf.) to chair House Ways and Means Committee - after Charles Rangel (D-NY) temporarily stepped down from the position. Stark is considered a liberal and has a history of making some wacky statements. I had felt a good choice would have been Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). Stark becomes the sixth Representative from California (Pelosi's state) to chair a committee in the House. TheHill.com has more here.

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Illinois Democratic U.S. Senate candidate gets grilled by Chicago Times Editorial Board - seems Alexi Giannoulias's family owned Broadway Bank is on the verge of failure due to troubled loans. Including, some to convicted bookmaker Michael Giorango. Alexi Giannoulas and his family were also paid 70 million in dividends between 2007 to 2008. The Chicago Tribune has more here.

Illinois politics remains interesting to watch.

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In Maryland, the state Democratic Party continues to hammer away at former Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich - incumbent Governor Martin O'Malley (D) is running for reelection and no Republican candidate has announced to date. Speculation is strong that Ehrlich who narrowly beat Democratic candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in 2002 and then lost to O'Malley in 2006 will announce his intention to reclaim the Governor's Mansion. The state Democratic Party is making sure the voters remember who Ehrlich is and recently released a video on how Ehrlich is a friend to special interests.



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Iraq Parliamentary Elections could slow U.S. troop withdrawal - the fear is the possibility of renewed violence due to ethnic and sectarian issues within Iraq as a result of the election on Sunday. The NY Times has more here.

The agreed upon plan is for the U.S. to reduce to no more than 50,000 troops inside Iraq as of September 1. The U.S. currently has 90,000 troops in Iraq. The inability to keep to the timetable would be another issue for the Obama administration to contend with and could possibly impact the mid term elections as well.

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Pakistan announces capture of 150 Caves used by the Taliban - an elaborate and hidden network of caves located in Bajaur at the Afghan/Pakistan border which were used to run Taliban operations. ABCNews.com has more here. This continues the Pakistan government crackdown on the militants in their country started by President Zardari.

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