Daily Political Wire 3-28-2010

George Wenschhof

Finally, after continued Republican Party obstruction, President Barack Obama makes 15 recess appointments. Craig Becker addition to the National Labor Relations Board was one of the appointments. Senate Republicans have kept 77 appointments from beginning work at government agencies. Becker was disliked by Republicans as he served as general counsel to the SEIU and AFL-CIO. Time.com has information of all fifteen appointments here.

Below, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod speaks about the appointments on CNN "State of The Union" this morning. Interestingly, at this point in George W. Bush's administration there were only 5 appointments which had not been confirmed.



---

New Washington Post poll show only 37% view Sarah Palin favorably - the poll conducted March 23-26 shows 55% view the former Alaska Governor unfavorably. The Washington Post has more here. Shows you can still keep your faith in the American voter. Surprisingly, she only receives 60% favorable rating among the "Tea Party" activists.

---

Republican National Committee to use "Citizens United" Ruling to challenge McCain-Feingold ban on soft money - after a 3 judge panel in D.C. district court struck down their request, the RNC hired conservative lawyer Ted Olsen (of 2000 election fame) to represent them in an appeal to the Supreme Court.

This follows a U.S. Court of appeals striking down the $5,000 annual limit of contributions to political groups in which they cite the "Citizens United" Supreme Court ruling. TPM.com has more here.

Let's hope that Congress can pass legislation soon that will effectively block the adverse impact the horrible "Citizens United" ruling has on campaign finance.

---

Retired Army Major General Robert Harding becomes second Obama nominee to withdraw from consideration to head TSA - the Transportation Security Administration oversees safety in the air, rail and roads. Erroll Southers withdrew in January when it was obvious his nomination had strong opposition in the senate. Harding faced questions pertaining to a security company he operated after retiring from the army.

The company owned by Harding was closed in 2009. It had a previous contract with the government to provide interrogation in Iraq and reached a 1.8 million reimbursement settlement in 2008 with the Defense Intelligence Agency over billing irregularities. MSNBC.com has more here.

---

To receive "Daily Email Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below or use the sign up box located in the upper right hand margin.