Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Netanyahu Rejects 1967 Borders Proposed By Obama - Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with President Obama and also address a joint session of Congress today. This comes after Obama delivered his Middle East speech yesterday in which he continued to call for a two state solution for Israel and Palestine. BBC News has more here.

The heavily nuanced speech covered many controversial issues. Obama stopped short of calling for UN recognition of Palestine as a state with pre 1967 six day war borders, which is what Palestine has been asking for from the UN. Instead, Obama called for mutually agreed upon land swaps moving toward the 1967 borders. President Obama was right to bring up the 1967 pre-war borders as a discussion point.

Remember, it was during vice-President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, a year ago, to announce proximity peace talks between Israel and Palestine, Israel announced new building permits for the West Bank. This was considered a slap to the U.S. efforts to broker peace and contributed to the proximity peace talks eventually breaking down. With the Netanyahu visit, the Obama speech was perhaps tit-for-tat.

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Palin Remains Coy About Presidential Bid - appearing on her favorite Fox News channel, she told Greta Van Sustren "she has the fire in her belly", but is concerned about the scrutiny one faces when they run for president - huh? The Daily Caller has more here.

She will be tempted as the GOP field is weak, but don't look to see her run. She is making plenty of money on the talk circuit.

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Senate Republicans Block Liu Appointment - President Obama had nominated Goodwin Liu for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The vote to break the filibuster was 52-43 and largely along party lines. TheHill.com has more here.

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House Dems Want Warren Recess Appointment - they want Elizabeth Warren to be appointed to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during Congressional recess to avoid a confirmation vote which would surely fail. Warren pushed for the inclusion of this agency in the Finance reform bill which was passed last year. Republicans opposed the creation of this agency. Politico.com has more here.

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Patriot Act Extended - yesterday, in what was a fairly quiet move, Congressional leaders agreed to extend by four years provisions in the Patriot Act which helps the F.B.I. in it's counter terrorism and surveillance efforts. The NY Times has more here.

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