Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Transition Plan Announced in Egypt - Vice President Omar Suleiman announced new plans for transition while demonstrators continue to call for the removal of President Mubarak. The NY Times has more here and Reuters has an update below.



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Keep an Eye on Pakistan - another country where a fragile regime is receiving massive U.S. funds. A key to battling the Taliban in Afghanistan, relations with the U.S. have been strained due to numerous U.S. unmanned drone attacks directed at the Taliban.

Now, the Obama administration has suspended all high level dialogue with Pakistan due to an American diplomat who has been accused of murder. Raymond Davis has admitted to shooting two Pakistanis who had threatened him. The Washington Post has more here.

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Obama Urges Businesses to Spend More - yesterday, in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President Obama encourage businesses to spend the 2 trillion they are holding in reserve and hire workers and invest in innovation to help the economy. The Boston Globe has more here.

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Vice President Joe Biden Promotes Infrastructure Development in Philadelphia - today, he will speak of plans by the Obama administration at the 30th Street Station. Republicans have initially opposed any new spending plans. You can read more here.

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Democratic Leadership Council Comes To an End - it grew during the Clinton administration, promoting a centrist approach to politics. Al From, who founded the organization in the mid eighties, announced they were suspending operations. The Caucus Blog has more here.

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Moderate Senate Democrats Question Health Care Individual Mandate - at least four Democratic Senators are considering legislation to eliminate the individual mandate portion of the health care bill which was passed last year. They all also represent states which President Obama lost in the 2008 election. Politico.com has more here.

One reason behind the individual mandate is to ensure a person has insurance when they get sick, rather than getting seriously ill and not having insurance. Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, believes the biggest problem with health insurance is that it costs too much and proposes alternatives to keep the price down. NPR.org has more here.

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