Daily Political Wire 8-30-2010

George Wenschhof

President Obama and family back from vacation - yesterday, the president traveled to New Orleans on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. He sat down with Brian Williams of NBC "Nightly News" for an interview. Obama defended the federal response to the BP Gulf oil spill and said quick action and continued vigilance has prevented even more damage to the Gulf coast.

Brian Williams asked a broad array of questions including why twenty per cent of Americans still believe he is a Muslim and that he was not born in this country. See the video below to watch the entire interview.

Tomorrow, President Obama will address the nation from the Oval office at 8:00 PM ET. The speech is being billed as a speech on how he kept his promise of a military withdraw from Iraq.

In addition, he should focus on a continued sluggish economy and what his administration intends to do to stimulate economic growth and job creation.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

---

Consumer spending up in July - 4% for the month, the largest increase since March. Unfortunately, incomes rose by only 2% which was less than was forecast. Also, the savings rate dropped to 5.9%, down from 6.2% in June. Bloomberg.com has more here.

---

60% say Palin not Qualified to be President - the latest poll conducted by Vanity Fair and CBS Sixty Minutes give new credence to the old saying "have faith in the voters". CNN.com has more here.

Comedian Tina Fey does an outstanding impression of the former Republican vice presidential candidate who was unable to tell CBS Katie Couric what newspapers she read and her now famous one liner "I can see Russia from my house" when Palin was describing her foreign policy experience.

You can read more on the poll results here.

---

Direct Israel-Palestine Peace talks to begin Thursday in D.C. - the shuttle diplomacy conducted by U.S. Middle East George Mitchell over the past year has resulted in direct talks between Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. You can read more here.

They will meet with President Obama on Wednesday before beginning their talks leading to a two state solution. Joining the talks will be Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan.

---

To receive "Daily Email Updates", click on "Subscribe to this feed" below or use the sign up box located in the upper right hand margin.