Daily Political Wire 8-10-2010

George Wenschhof

House back in Session - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the house back into session from their August recess to pass the 26.1 billion aid to states bill and a 600 million bill which will increase security along the U.S. and Mexican border.

The Senate had passed both bills last week, but after the House had already adjourned. Both bills are expected to passed the House today. You can read more here.

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Two Primaries and a Run Off Election Today - as I mentioned in an earlier post, the Georgia run off is for the Republican candidate for Governor who will face Democratic Roy Barnes. Karen Handel is favored to beat Nathan Deal.

In Connecticut, the senate race to fill the seat from retiring Chris Dodd (D) will most likely end up a match between Republican Linda McMahon who has spent 22 million of her own money against Democrat Richard Blumenthal who has had his share of gaffes in the press.

Out in Colorado, watch the senate race to fill the seat vacated by Ken Salazar, when he was appointed Secretary of the Interior. Michael Bennet, who was appointed to fill Salazar's seat has strong Democratic opposition in Andrew Romanoff. Romanoff is backed by former President Bill Clinton and Bennet has the support of President Obama. It will be interesting to see how much Clinton's support helps Romanoff. You can read more here.

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Federal Reserve meets today as economy slows - economists around the world will be waiting to see what is announced after the meeting. Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke is faced with the dangers of deflation hitting the U.S., resulting in another recession. Another round of stimulus spending will not pass Congress at this point, so stay tuned to see what actions the Federal Reserve will take. The NY Times has more here.

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Waters joins Charles Rangel (D-NY) as defendants in front of House Ethics committee - as expected, charges were formally filed against Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calf.). She is accused of helping OneUnited Bank, in which her husband owned stock, in receiving bail out funds.

Democratic leaders are spinning their changes in ethics rules and procedures is what led to these open trials and that the system is now working. Unfortunately, with two high profile Democratic Representatives facing ethics charges prior to the mid term elections, it will not help Democrats. TheHill.com has more here.

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Plane crashes in Alaska, believed to have former Alaska senator ted Stevens on board - rescuers are still trying to reach the remote site in southwest Alaska, where a plane believed to have eight passengers has crashed. Ted Stevens became known as the "king of pork" with his infamous "Bridge to nowhere". He also lost reelection after he was found guilty of several counts of corruption. The charges were later dropped by Attorney General Eric Holder due to misconduct by prosecutors. AP has more here.

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