Daily Political Wire 7-24-2010

George Wenschhof

Progressives meet in Las Vegas - the fifth annual convention held since the founding by Markos Moulitsas, who runs the liberal website www.DailyKos.com The Washington Post has more here.

Liberal Democrats are not very happy with the passage of watered down Health and Wall Street Reform bills. They overestimated their influence in the Obama administration after his victory in 2008.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will address the estimated 2100 attendees today and also take questions.

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Representative Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) calls for Charles Rangel (D-NY) to Resign - as the House Ethics committee prepares to formally charge Rangel in a meeting Thursday. Sutton was the first to also call for Rangel to resign from his post as chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. TheHill.com has more here.

While many Democrats are fearful of the voter reaction to a trial of Rangel, the House rules may prohibit a trial taking place until after the mid term elections.

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Meanwhile, Republican Senator John Ensign remains under investigation by Justice Department - stemming from his help in obtaining lobbying work for the husband and former aide who's wife he was having an affair.

Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) just turned over 1200 pages of emails requested by the Justice Department on Ensign. Stay Tuned... Politico.com has more here.

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Campaign Finance Disclosure bill to get debate in Senate on Tuesday - a bill that resulted from the narrow 5-4 Supreme Court "Citizens United" decision. The bill championed by Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) barely passed the House after provisions were added to exempt many organizations, including the NRA.

As usual, for Senate passage, Democrats will need to secure the votes from the Maine Republican Senators; Collins and Snowe, along with Scott Brown (Mass.). You can read more here.

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