Daily Political Wire 4-20-2010

George Wenschhof

Last night, President Obama spoke at two fundraisers in California - one for Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calf.) and the other a DNC event. Republican Carly Fiorina who is running against Boxer criticized the president for using taxpayers funds to fly out to California to attend fundraisers. However, the DNC and Boxer campaign issued statements that they were paying for the cost of the traveling by the president. The LA Times has more here.

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Pennsylvania Congressional special election deadlocked - the special election to be held on May 18 is basically tied according to recent polling data. The race to replace the late John Murtha in the 12th district is between Mark Critz (D) and Tim Burns (R). The RNC has poured $247,000 into the campaign and the DNC has contributed $136,000. The latest poll has Crist ahead 40-39%, which means it is any one's race to win. TheFix.com has more here.

Interestingly, with all the negative attacks on Democrats transpiring, they have won the last five Congressional special elections. Stay Tuned...

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Senate Republicans continue to say no to Financial Reform - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has become a master of spreading misinformation on pending legislation. this time, after attending a private meeting with wall street executives. The Senate bill presented by Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) is a result of months of negotiations with Republicans in the Senate Banking Committee. Dodd has also never been accused of being in the liberal left wing of the Democratic Party, which makes the opposition by the Republican Party even more odd.

The 50 billion fund proposed is a liquidation fund to assist in the closing of a firm which fails and is totally funded by Banks and not the government. It is not to be used for bailouts. Why the Republicans would also oppose the creation of a consumer finance protection agency is also mind boggling. The third area of Republican opposition pertains to new regulations on derivatives which the lack of regulations, in part, led to the financial collapse of two years ago. This led to the current law suit by the SEC against Goldman Sachs. Politico.com has more here.

The two Republican Senators from Maine; Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe met with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday as Democrats continue to search for one Republican vote to end a filibuster. Collins was noncommittal following the meeting and Snowe was still a no.

President Obama will travel to New York on Thursday and speak on the need for immediate financial reform at New York Cooper Union.

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Senate Republicans also say no to campaign finance reform - after the Supreme court 5-4 Citizens United decision allowed corporations unlimited spending in political campaigns, Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) vowed to pass legislation to curb corporation financial influence in elections. To date, Shumer has been unable to secure a Republican co-sponsor in the Senate, while Van Hollen has secured Republican co-sponsors in the House. Further delay by Senate Republicans will impact whether a bill can be passed in time to help in the upcoming elections. TheHill.com has more here.

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