Daily Political Wire 8-27-2010

George Wenschhof

Second Quarter Growth only 1.6% - a significant down slide from the 5% reported for the last quarter of 2009 and the 3.7% reported for the first quarter this year. Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke will be giving a speech at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming today. Economists and investors will be listening to what he has to say. The NY Times has more here.

Paul Krugman adds his commentary saying that the "recovery summer" has been a failure and the Obama administration has been avoiding saying the obvious. Which is, the Stimulus was not large enough due to Republican obstructionism.

The continued bad economic news will definitely impact the mid term elections as voters will want to see a change.

President Obama has a major prime time speech scheduled for Tuesday in which he will be discussing the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq. He would be better served giving a speech on what actions will be taken to stimulate the economy. While he may try to divert attention of the voters by discussing Iraq, it will not work.

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Democrats aim to energize base by warning of Tea Party take over of Republican Party - DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) will give a speech today and the DNC has a video (see below) warning of the possibility of far right extremists being elected this fall. TheFix.com has more here.

Tea Party activist supported Senate candidates Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sharon Angle (R-Nev.), Joe Miller (R-Ala.), along with Florida candidate for Governor Rick Scott (R) are highlighted.

The purpose is to motivate Democratic voters to get out to vote in the mid terms by showing the stark contrasts.



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Blagojevich Retrial Set for January 11, 2011 - yesterday, a federal judge set the new trial date for the former Illinois Governor. The previous trial resulted in only one guilty charge of lying to the FBI with 23 other corruption charges resulting in a hung jury. federal prosecutors also announced yesterday they were dropping charges against the governor's brother; Robert Blagojevich. Politico.com has more here.

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Former President Jimmy Carter says N. korea ready to resume denuclearization talks - he is returning to the U.S. today after securing the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes. Kim Yong Nam, the number two in North Korea indicated they were ready to resume the "six party" talks. Reuters.com has more here.

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