Daily Political Wire 7-12-2010

George Wenschhof

Maryland Democratic Governor O'Malley releases first video campaign ad - coming shortly after a email blast to Maryland voters from President Obama expressing his support - in the campaign video entitled "Tough Choices", it is stressed Governor O'Malley oversaw record investment in public education, created tax credits for small businesses and cut the budget by 5.6 billion while balancing the budget four years in a row.



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Questions loom as Congress returns - when will the Financial Reform bill finally get passed, will the Energy/Climate bill receive approval, how about extension of unemployment benefits and aid to states to avert further teacher and firefighter lay-offs, will taxes go up for the wealthier as promised, will Immigration reform be tackled, and will Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan be confirmed? These are but a few of the lingering questions and issues on the plate of Congress to act on prior to the mid term elections. The NY Times has a good read here.

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W.Virginia Governor Joe Manchin to run for the late Senator Robert Byrd seat - all indications are he will announce he will run for the seat, even though he was just elected chairman of the National Governors Association during their weekend meeting.

First, he is calling a special session of their state legislature to determine when a special election will be held (this year or 2012), then he will consider a interim candidate to fill the seat until he would run.

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In case you missed the Sunday morning "Talking Heads", below are some highlights provided courtesy of Politico.com



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