Daily Political Wire 4-9-2010

George Wenschhof

President Barack Obama is on his way home after signing new START Treaty - a treaty that is a move in the right direction to ultimately rid the world of nuclear weapons. After successfully negotiating the Health Care Reform bill through Congress and then achieving this historic foreign policy, it is time for the president to take a "real" weekend at Camp David; the nearby presidential retreat. The last time the president said he was heading to camp David for some R & R, he ended up in Afghanistan for a surprise visit.

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Supreme Court Justice John Stevens makes Retirement official - his long rumored announcement comes just 11 days prior to his 90th birthday. He indicated he will step down after the court finishes the current cases in late June or July. This will make the second Supreme Court Justice for President Obama to appoint. AP has more here.

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More trouble for Steele - for the man who loves to spend donor money - on himself. Additional revelations of out of control spending by the RNC includes a $700 bill at a fish and bait shop for office supplies - huh?

Well, finally someone in the Republican Party is speaking up - North Carolina Republican Party chair Tom Fetzer has sent Michael Steele a letter asking him to resign for the benefit of the party. MSNBC "First Read" has more here.

As everyone knows now, the $2,000 spent at a "bondage theme" nightclub and $700 spent at a fish and bait shop pales to the tens of thousands of dollars Steele is spending every month on himself on private planes, limos and stays at posh resorts.

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Republican Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.) joins Steele on the hot seat - Nevada state Republican are calling for Ensign to resign as the troubles surrounding his affair with a former staffer continue. Republican officials are concerned Ensign is hurting GOP hopefuls on the ticket. Politico.com has more here.

Ensign is under investigation for payments made to the staffer's family, jobs offered and more as he attempted to keep the scandal quiet.

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Representative Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) will not seek reelection - we reported yesterday he was wavering and that both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Mich.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) had called him to reconsider. AP has more here.

After nine terms in office, he rose to national public recognition in the recent health care reform bill negotiations as he argued to make certain no federal funds would be used from the bill for abortion.

For those counting; this makes 16 Democrats and 18 Republicans who are not running for reelection to the 435 member House.

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Al Gore and Alliance for Climate Protection oppose new off shore drilling for Oil - the environmental advocacy organization chaired by Al Gore issued a statement opposing the new policy. This was expected as the Obama announcement was a significant break from what Obama campaigned on during the 2008 election. TheHill.com has more here.

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