Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Obama Heads to West Coast - after meeting with House Democratic leaders for lunch at the White House, the president is off to California where he will meet with business leaders in innovation and technology.

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Tim Kaine Seriously Considering Senate Bid - the former Virginia governor and current chair of the Democratic National Committee, spoke with President Obama yesterday about the race. With Democratic senator Jim Webb already announcing he is not running for reelection and Republican George Allen already campaigning, Kaine needs to make a decision soon.

I look to see him go for it, opening up the position of chair of the DNC. A position that is critical in the reelection effort for the president.

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More to be Done on Budget - is the message in an article published today by the co-chairs of the bipartisan debt commission. Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson say the president's budget proposal is a first step, but now is the time for serious discussion on the major entitlement programs of social security, medicaid and medicare. TheHill.com has more here.

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Paul Ryan to Propose Cuts in Medicaid/Medicare - the Wisconsin Republican who is chair of the House Budget Committee says Obama does not address these programs in his budget proposal. Politico.com has more below.



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Immunity for U.S. Diplomat Remains a Question - Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) who is chair of the Senate Foreign Relations committee is in Pakistan trying to defuse a potential serious rift between the U.S. and Pakistan. As I reported earlier, U.S. official Raymond Davis shot and killed two Pakistanis. The question is what was the former member of the Special Forces doing in Pakistan? A Pakistan court has given the government three weeks to determine if Davis falls under diplomatic immunity. The Washington Post has more here.

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U.S. Knew Egypt was Ripe for Revolt - before you bash the U.S. intelligence agencies for failing to see the uprising in Egypt, the NY Times has a good read here on a report ordered by President Obama last August which predicted the unrest. The secret report concluded the uprising in Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen and struggles with how the U.S. balances a desire for democratic reforms and stability in the region.

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