Daily Political Wire 4-30-2010

George Wenschhof

President Obama will deliver a statement this morning on the 3.2% GDP growth in the 1st Quarter - the commerce department issued the encouraging numbers which also show consumer spending is up. Bloomberg.com has more here.

Inflation grew only 0.6% after rising 1.8% in the 4th quarter. These are nice orderly signs the U.S. is beginning to emerge from the deepest recession since the 1930's.

Makes you question the actions by the Republican Party of No, who opposed the passing of the Stimulus bill and are presently battling the necessary reform measures on Wall Street, whose reckless investment strategies lead to the financial collapse.

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Crist makes it official - he is running as a Independent for Senate in Florida - yesterday, Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced what many already knew. He delivered a populist message, saying it should be the people who decide who is their Senator and not clubs. MSNBC.com has more here.

The reality of the situation is he had no chance of becoming the Republican Party nominee as he was trailing by double digits to tea party activist darling Marco Rubio. In a three way race including Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek, Crist leads by a narrow margin.

Should Crist win in November, which political party he would caucus with is important. The two presently serving Independents in the senate; Joe Lieberman (Conn.) and Bernie Sanders (Vt.) caucus with the Democrats.

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Reid-Graham posturing continues on Immigration and Energy/Climate bills - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says he is moving forward with both bills for consideration of this Congress. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is still threatening to withdraw his co-sponsorship of the Energy/Climate bill if immigration reform is put on the table. TPM.com has more here.

Meanwhile, yesterday President Obama issued a statement saying he was pleased with a recently released Senate proposal on immigration. He pointed out the need for reform and the importance of enforcing the law and securing our borders.

Both the Energy/Climate and Immigration bills will be contentious, but both are needed now. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is crucial. The Republican Party also realize that Hispanics are the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. and continued rhetoric or action that is perceived as anti-Hispanic would be detrimental to their future success as a political party. Stay tuned...

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New Off-Shore Oil Drilling suspended - Senior white house Adviser David Axelrod made the announcement yesterday. This comes after the disastrous Gulf coast rig disaster that is still pumping thousands of barrels of oil into the ocean. Axelrod said an analysis needs to be done to see what brought about the accident and how it can be avoided in the future. Politico.com has more here.

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