Daily Political Wire 11-18-2010

George Wenschhof

Congressional Leadership Stays the Same - in spite of the "wave" election in which republicans gained control of the House and also gained seats in the Senate, the leadership remained the same as before the elections.

Both, the Republican and Democratic Parties will know in two years if staying the course was the right decision.

Meanwhile, a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds 73% believe there will be little change after the election and 76% believe the country is headed for more divisiveness. You can read more on the poll results here.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to Hold Votes for D.A.D.T. and DREAM Act - both controversial bills will be brought up in the lame duck session in early December. The NY Times has more here.

The pentagon survey report on D.A.D.T. will be released on December 1 and in spite of opposition by Senator John McCain, the bill repealing the current military policy toward gays/lesbians should be passed.

The DREAM Act will be a heavier lift for Democrats as will be introduced as a stand alone bill and not an attempt toward comprehensive immigration reform. Heated rhetoric is expected as the bill provides for a pathway to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants who attend college or serve in the military. A good bill which could easily be torpedoed due to the lack of consensus of overall immigration reform.

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed for ratification of START - testifying in front of her former Senate colleagues, she argued the treaty with Russia can not wait for approval. The White House is fighting for approval of this nuclear arms reduction treaty which requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate. TheHill.com has more here.

Failure to have this treaty ratified would be a major blow to the Obama administration.

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Rangel Sanctions Expected Today - the House Ethics committee is meeting this morning to determine the punishment for representative charles Ragel (D-NY) who was found guilty on 11 of 12 ethics charges.

On tap is representative Maxine Waters (D-Calf.) who has her ethics hearing scheduled for November 29. She is accused of intervening in helping a Bank, where her husband owned stock, receive federal funds.

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Unemployment extension set for a vote - so far 319 Billion has been spent in unemployment compensation and a fifth extension of benefits is set to receive a vote prior to the end of the year. If the benefits are not extended, 2 million will stop receiving benefits. You can read more here.

319 billion spent funding a national public service employment program for the unemployed would have been a better use of tax payers money.

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More on Palin running for President in 2012.



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