Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Mike Huckabee Not Running - the former Republican Governor of Arkansas and a currently a FOX commentator, says he will not run for president. He was consistently polling among the top three potential contenders. A Evangelical favorite, speculation already begins as to who will receive their vote. Mark Halperin of Time.com has his take here.

Meanwhile, President Obama's approval rating has gone up since the death of Osama Bin Laden and the Republican field of potential presidential candidates remains weak.

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U.S. Middle East Envoy George Mitchell to Step Down - Mitchell becomes the latest of a long line of U.S. negotiators who have become frustrated with the effort to obtain a lasting peace agreement between Israel and Palestine. AP has more here.

His efforts of brokering "proximity peace talks" failed as Israel continued developments on the controversial West Bank. The recent unity agreement between factions in Palestine also has been met with resistance from Israel.

President Obama is expected to make a speech on Thursday pertaining to Israel continuing settlement development. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Washington on Friday. stay tuned...

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International Monetary Fund Director Arrested - in what appears to be the latest in an never ending series of scandalous episodes surrounding high profile personalities. Dominique Straus-Kahn was arrested on a plane ready for take off at Kennedy International Airport and charged with sexually attacking a maid in a downtown New York City Hotel. The NY Times has more here. And, so it goes...

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HUD's Public Housing Debacle - The Washington Post is reporting hundreds of millions designated for public housing sits idle or has never been used. Over 700 projects with a total of 400 million have set idle for years. You can read more here.

Accountability in government should be standard operating procedure and it is these types of horrific snafus that give rise to those who oppose government spending on social issues.

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Kohl Resigns - Ryan to Run? - for the Wisconsin Senate seat. Democrat Herb Kohl will not run for reelection and it is expected that Representative Paul Ryan (R) will announce he will run for the vacant seat. Ryan has received national attention for his proposal to reduce the national deficit for 6 Trillion over the next decade. CNN.com has more here.