Daily Political Wire 12-14-2010

George Wenschhof

856 Billion Tax Extension Bill Overwhelmingly Passes Cloture in Senate - the vote was 85-13. The Senate will now vote on it today and send it to the House, where the second Stimulus bill is expected to pass, despite many disgruntled progressive Democrats. Reuters.com has more here.

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Virginia Judge Rules health care bill Unconstitutional - this was the first ruling on the "individual mandate" requirement of the bill. This is the section of the bill which has been challenged by many Republican state attorney generals across the country. Expect the Supreme Court to have the final say in regard to the "commerce clause" in the constitution.

Judge Henry Hudson is also coming under fire for rendering a decision when he had invested in a firm which lobbied against health care reform. The Huffington Post has more here.

Social Security also received many legal challenges when instituted.

U.S. Attorney general Eric Holder and Health Secretary Katleen Sebelius have an op-ed in the Washington Post today with their response to the ruling. You can read it here.

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Ambassador Richard Holbrooke Unable to Survive Emergency Aorta Surgery - despite an incredible effort by doctors to repair a torn aorta. The career diplomat spent 50 of his 69 years working in the foreign service, most recently as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. the Wall Street Journal has more on his life here.

President Obama, will hold a previously scheduled meeting today on the year end review of U.S. Afghanistan policy. The report is expected to be released today. TheHill.com has more here.

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Steele to Seek Another Term - as chair of the Republican National Committee. In a conference call to supporters last night, he announced he was indeed running for reelection after the huge success achieved by Republican candidates in the mid term elections. The NY Times has more here.

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Miller Appeals Judge's Ruling - the Alaska senate race drags on as Joe Miller challenges the authenticity of misspelled votes for the write-in winner Lisa Murkowski. The Miller campaign says the state law requires the name be spelled correctly to be counted. You can read more here.

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