Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Pelosi Considers Bringing Tax Bill To Vote in House - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) may use a parliamentary procedure to bring to vote a bill passed by the Senate, to a vote in the House, which would extend tax cuts for all earning $250,000 or less.  For those earning more the tax cuts would expire on January 1.

Democrats number 193 in the current House with a simple majority of 218 needed to pass this bill.  Reports indicate there may be enough Republican votes to pass this bill.  You can read more here.

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Affordable Care Act Saved Seniors $5 Billion On Prescriptions - a report from the Health and Human Services Department shows 2.8 million Americans have saved an average of $677 on their medications so far this year.

“The healthcare law is saving money for people with Medicare," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.

"Everyone with Medicare should look at their health and drug plan options for additional value before the Medicare open enrollment period ends this week," she added.  You can read more here.

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Wasserman Schultz to Stay as DNC Chair - President Obama will ask members of the Democratic National Committee to reelect Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  The vote will likely be unanimous on January 22 as she helped win Florida for Obama in the 2012 election.  Schultz has served as DNC since 2011 when Tim Kaine stepped down to run for U.S. Senate in Virginia.  TheHill.com has more here.

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Will J.C. Watts Run for RNC Chair? - reports indicate former two term Republican Representative may challenge Reince Priebis, who has already announced he will run for another term as head of the Republican National Committee.

Watts, an African-American conservative who served in the House from 1994-2002, said the GOP defeat on Election Day demonstrates that Republicans need to broaden their appeal to minority voters, and cannot continue on their current path if the party is to be successful in presidential races.

Politico.com has more here.
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Democratic Governors Association To Elect New Chair - meeting in Los Angeles today, members will elect leadership positions.  Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, who is term limited in Maryland and is rumored to be considering a run for the White House in 2016, is likely to be replaced as chair by Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin.

Speculation is O'Malley will be elected as Finance Chair of the DGA, a position he held before becoming chair and a position which would keep him in contact with Democratic donors.  CNN.com has more here.

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Clinton Warns Syria on Use of Chemical Weapons - speaking from the Czech Republic,
“This is a red line for the United States,” Clinton said. “I'm not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people. But suffice to say we are certainly planning to take action.”

This statement form U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes as reports indicate rebels are on the outskirts of Damascus and President Assad is seriuosly considering using chemical weapons.  The Washington Post has more here.

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Europe Rebukes Israel on Latest Settlements - Four European nations summoned their Israeli ambassadors on Monday to denounce Israel's latest settlement construction push, deepening the rift between the Jewish state and European allies that has cracked open over the Palestinians' successful U.N. statehood bid.

The announced expansion of settlements comes after Palestine received recognition by the U.N. and the announced cease-fire of the Palestine/Israel flare up in Gaza. The NY Times has more here.

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