Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

NATO Assumes Control of No-Fly Zone - NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen differs with the U.S. and Britain interpretation of UN mandate and says it does not include the arming of the rebels. Time.com has more here.

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U.S. Covert Ops in Libya - not a surprise, as C.I.A. operatives always go into a country prior to an air campaign to clarify and target areas for bombing. The NY Times has a good read here.

The question that now needs to be asked in Congress is what is their charge now? Are they operating as advisers to the rebels and are they providing arms to the rebels?, are two of the many questions that deserve immediate answers from the Obama administration.

Now, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is calling for resolution to authorize President Obama to take action to remove Gaddafi from office. TheHill.com has more here.

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France Calls for Global Nuclear Regulations - France President Nicholas Sarkozy wants a meeting with global leaders to address new measures to govern nuclear power plants. This comes after Sarkozy visited Japan. Japan is still struggling to contain four damaged nuclear reactors as reports surface of radiation levels in sea water and high reading outside of the original 20 mile radius evacuation range. Reuters.com has more here.

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33 Million Cut Agreement Reached On Budget - reports indicate an agreement has been reached between congressional leaders and the White House for an additional 33 billion in cuts for the remainder of the current budget year. The current continuing resolution expires April 8. The Washington Post has more here.

Following the mid term elections, Republicans buoyed by newly elected tea party freshmen called for 100 billion in cuts to the budget. This call was quickly dropped to 60 billion as the realization the fiscal year was nearly half over. Two continuing resolutions with a total of 10 billion in cuts, encompassing 5 weeks have been passed. If the 33 billion deal holds, Republicans can claim they cut the current budget by 43 billion.

Before, everyone believes it is a done deal, the specifics of what programs will be affected have not been agreed upon, only the total amount. Stay tuned...

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Government Makes Profit from Bail Out Bill - remember the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) which was passed at the end of the George W. Bush administration? Lots of criticism has come forward on the effort which is credited with the U.S.averting a economic meltdown. Now, it appears, it was also a program where the government has been paid back and a profit made form the loans given to banks. TheHill.com has more here.

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