George Wenschhof
Obama to announce veterans job program - President Barack Obama on Tuesday will "make a significant employment announcement for veterans and military spouses," the White House announced.
The President, alongside First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, will announce the White House's "latest Joining Forces initiative, a program designed to help find jobs for veterans and military spouses," USA Today reported.
The announcement is scheduled to be held 11:45 a.m. ET at the East Room of the White House. TPM.com has more here.
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Treasury to pay down debt for first time since Obama took office - The Treasury Department announced Monday that it would reduce its level of debt in financial markets for the first time since President Obama took office.
The department said it expects to pay down a net of $35 billion in its marketable debt for the second quarter of 2013, the first time it has done so since 2007.
But thanks to unexpectedly higher receipts of government revenue and lower outlays in spending, the Treasury is experiencing a swing in fortune that allows officials to actually pay down some of its outstanding debt.
Treasury now expects to have a cash balance of $75 billion in June after paying down the $35 billion in debt. You can read more here.
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Obama calls Collins - President Obama called Jason Collins Monday after the NBA player went public about being gay.
"The president called Jason Collins to express his support and said he was impressed by his courage," a White House official tells POLITICO.
First lady Michelle Obama also tweeted her support for Collins, while White House press secretary Jay Carney said during a press briefing Monday that the administration commends Collins and sees his coming out as another sign of progress in American society.
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Elizabeth Colbert Busch fares well in debate - At best, Mark Sanford fought to a draw against Elizabeth Colbert Busch in the only debate of the campaign. That spells trouble for the Republican, who is running out of chances to turn the tide with just a week left until Election Day.
From the beginning, Colbert Busch aggressively challenged Sanford. She knocked his record in Congress, slammed his 2009 disappearance as governor, and parried his attempts to tie her to national Democrats.
“When we talk about fiscal spending, and we talk about protecting the taxpayers, it doesn’t mean you take that money we saved and leave the country for a personal purpose,” Colbert Busch declared early in the debate. The Washington Post has more here.
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Markey favored to win Massachusetts Democratic primary - Rep. Edward Markey (D) is heavily favored to win the Democratic primary Tuesday in the race to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry — but the Republican contest remains far more murky.
There is considerably more uncertainty about the outcome of the Republican primary, with few polls available to take the pulse of the three-man field. About 200,000 voters are projected to cast ballots in the Republican primary, 35,000 more than in 2009.
The GOP field pits local businessman Gabriel Gomez against former ATF acting director Michael Sullivan and state Rep. Dan Winslow. TheHill.com has more here.
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F.B.I. looking into relationship between Virginia governor and donor - FBI agents are conducting interviews about the relationship between Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, his wife, Maureen, and a major campaign donor who paid for the food at the wedding of the governor’s daughter, according to four people familiar with the questioning.
The agents have been asking associates of the McDonnells about gifts provided to the family by Star Scientific chief executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. and actions the Republican governor and his wife have taken that may have boosted the company, the people said.
Among the topics being explored, they said, is the $15,000 catering bill that Williams paid for the 2011 wedding of McDonnell’s daughter at Virginia’s historic Executive Mansion. The Washington Post has more here.
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Daily Political Wire
Monday, April 29, 2013
Daily Political Wire
George Wenschhof
House immigration plan to include guilty plea and conditional probation - House immigration negotiators believe they might have found a way to soften conservative criticism directed at a proposal that would provide millions of illegal immigrants with a pathway to citizenship.
The House immigration working group has tentatively settled on a plan that would require illegal immigrants to appear in federal court and plead guilty to breaking U.S. immigration law. Illegal immigrants would be required to complete this step before embarking on a conditional pathway to citizenship that would take at least a decade. In fact, illegal immigrants would essentially be granted legal status when a federal judge sentences them to “probation” for illegally crossing the border.
“The legal process in the House bill is stiffer to emphasize that the law was broken, and to [recognize] the need to uphold the rule of law,” said a Republican congressional aide familiar with the House immigration working group’s negotiations.
An undocumented immigrant’s probation sentence would likely come with certain conditions and run about five years, and then be renewed for another five years to cover the assumed 10-year path-to-citizenship timetable. RollCall.com has more here.
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Bowles-Simpson push for grand bargain - Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson co-chaired the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform and currently co-chair the Moment of Truth Project. They co-authored an op-ed that appeared in The Washington Post today that discusses the details of their latest proposal.
Anexcerpt: The plan we propose would achieve $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction through 2023, replacing the immediate, mindless cuts of the sequester with smarter, more gradual deficit reduction that would avoid disrupting a fragile economic recovery while putting the debt on a clear downward path relative to the economy over the next 10 years and beyond. Importantly, the plan would achieve this deficit reduction while respecting the principles and priorities of both parties. You can read more here.
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Obama to nominate Charlotte Mayor Foxx for Transportation chief - President Obama on Monday will nominate Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx to be his next secretary of Transportation, a White House official confirmed to The Hill.
Foxx would replace outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who announced his retirement earlier this year. LaHood said he would remain in office until the Senate confirms his successor.
“Foxx’s career as a public official, in a rapidly changing urban environment, has been marked by an ability to integrate local, state and federal resources to meet important transportation challenges – expertise he will bring to his critical interactions with leaders at the state and local level as Secretary of Transportation,” the White House said. Politico.com has more here.
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Obama to announce more cabinet picks this week - Chicago businesswoman and longtime Obama backer Penny Pritzker is still in line for Commerce Secretary, Reuters has reported, and the president is close to choosing White House deputy national security adviser Mike Froman to be the next U.S. Trade Representative. You can read more here.
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World economy remains fragile - Five years after the onset of the global financial crisis, the world economy is in such a chronic condition that
the European Central Bank might cut interest rates this week and the Federal
Reserve is likely to indicate no let-up in the stimulus it is providing the U.S.
economy.
With the euro zone
economy in recession, momentum is building
for the ECB to lower interest rates for the first time since July 2012,
according to senior sources involved in the deliberations. Reuters.com has more here.
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Explosion targets Syrian Prime Minister - Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi survived a bomb attack that targeted his convoy in central Damascus on Monday, Syrian state media and Hezbollah's al-Manar television reported.
"The terrorist explosion in al-Mezze was an attempt to target the convoy of the prime minister. Doctor Wael al-Halqi is well and not hurt at all," state television said. NBC News has more here.
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
Daily Political Wire
George Wenschhof
Obama's jokes bring laughs at correspondent's dinner - Washington, New York and Hollywood held their annual schmoozefest Saturday night, and the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner (#nerdprom on Twitter) showed new evidence of being completely overrun by red-carpet-posing actors, singers, sports superstars, models and other outsiders who couldn’t possibly name the ranking Democrat of the House Ways and Means Committee, much less its chairman.
Obama’s remarks were, until the very end, a frothy mix of self-deprecation and digs at the media and his Republican adversaries. He got a big laugh early by showing a magazine cover of “Senior Leisure” with his photo on it: “I’m not the strapping young Muslim socialist I used to be,” he said. The Washington Post has more here.
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Normal flight operations to resume by Sunday evening - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Saturday that flight service in the U.S. would return to normal by Sunday evening after Congress passed a law to end airport delays that were attributed to the sequester.
The FAA said that that it has suspended air traffic controller furloughs that has been in place since last Sunday, but the agency said it would take another day for flight service to return completely to normal.
“Air traffic facilities will begin to return to regular staffing levels over the next 24 hours and the system will resume normal operations by Sunday evening,” the agency said. TheHill.com has more here.
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McCain wants to save Military from sequester - After Congress swiftly and overwhelmingly passed legislation Friday to provide the Federal Aviation Administration flexibility under sequestration to mitigate the worst impacts, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) demanded that Congress do the same for the military, which has also been hit by the automatic spending cuts.
"I support the action by Congress this week to provide the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with the flexibility it needs to keep air traffic controllers on the job and flights on schedule," McCain said in a statement Friday. "However, it is shameful for us to make allowances for the FAA while doing nothing to stop the draconian cuts that are decimating our military today and putting our nation's security in danger. TPM.com has more here.
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Justice Breyer breaks collarbone - Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is in a Washington hospital after shoulder replacement surgery following a bicycle accident.
Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says the 74-year-old Breyer is expected to make a full recovery following the operation Saturday.
Breyer injured his right shoulder in a fall Friday near the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
The justice previously broke his collarbone in an accident in 2011 and sustained broken ribs and a punctured lung in a bicycle mishap in 1993, before he joined the court.
Breyer was appointed to the court in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. Politico.com has more here.
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Two police officers shot as Italian government sworn in - Two Italian police officers were shot and wounded on Sunday outside the prime
minister's office in Rome at the same time as Prime Minister Enrico Letta's new
government was being sworn in just a kilometer (mile) away.
It was not immediately clear whether the attack was linked to the launch of
the new government, but the episode came at a time of bitter political division
with rising social tensions exacerbated by a long economic slump. Reuters.com has more here.
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
Sunday Morning "Talking Heads" Cheat Sheet
George Wenschhof
More discussion on the Boston bombings will take place with the spotlight on the U.S. intelligence agencies. Revelations continue to come forward regarding the Boston bombing suspects being placed on a terror watch list(s) and pertaining to information was shared by Russian intelligence with the U.S. prior to the horrific event.
Saber rattling will ratchet up with the disclosure chemical weapons were used, in some capacity in the Syrian uprising. President Obama had established a "red line" on the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.
President Obama is wisely saying more detailed and verified information needs to be obtained before he would support the U.S. being part of an international force that would intervene in Syria.
Always a war hawk, Senator John McCain (R- Ariz.) will appear on NBC "Meet The Press", where he will surely argue for immediate U.S. intervention.
Israel ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren will appear on Fox News Sunday, as will Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who saw his bill for background checks, co-sponsored with Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), lose in the Senate due to a Republican led filibuster.
"Meet the Press" will also have a roundtable discussion on the legacy of former President George W. Bush, who just had a dedication to his presidential library this week.
The "quick fix" legislation passed by Congress this week, to mitigate the automatic sequester cut damage inflicted to FAA traffic controllers, will also likely receive attention.
Look also to hear some comments on the White House Correspondent Dinner, that NBC Tom Brokaw declined to attend.
Discussion will be light on the just released less than expected U.S. 2.5% GDP growth for the first quarter and the action announced by North Korea to try an American detained for allegedly trying to "topple" it's government.
The scheduled guests follow below.
NBC "Meet The Press" - Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Reps. Peter King (R-NY) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), former British prime minister tony Blair
Roundtable discussion on the legacy of George W. Bush with Karen Hughes, Chuck Todd, Mike Murphy, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
ABC "This Week" - Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.)
Roundtable with George Will, Donna Brazille, Matthew Dowd, Newt Gingrich and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
CBS "Face The Nation" - Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Roundtable with Peggy Noonan, John Dickerson, Norah O'Donnell, David Gergen and Clarissa Ward
CNN "State of The Union" - Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Adam Schiff (D-Calf.) and Sen. Dan Coates (R-Ind.)
Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and former Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns
Fox News Sunday - Sen. Joe Manchin (D- W.Va.), Rep. Mike McCall (R-Tex.) and Michael Oren
Roundtable with Brit Hume, Charles Lane, Bill Kristol and Amy Walter
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Obama Weekly Address
George Wenschhof
President Obama on Saturday called for a full replacement of the sequester on the heels of the quick passage of legislation in Congress to stop furloughs of air traffic controllers in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
In his weekly address, Obama said that the FAA furloughs were only one of many problems caused by sequestration, and urged Congress to do more than pass a “Band-Aid” to stop the flight delays that were occurring under the automatic cuts.
“Congress passed a temporary fix. A Band-Aid. But these cuts are scheduled to keep falling across other parts of the government that provide vital services for the American people,” Obama said.
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Republican Weekly Address
George Wenschhof
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began furloughing employees this week, including air traffic controllers, as a part of automatic budget cuts required by the sequester.
The furloughs resulted in long flight delays for passengers across the country.
Representative Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) attempts to put the blame on President Obama by saying "There are some in the Obama administration who thought inflicting pain on the public would give the president more leverage to avoid making necessary spending cuts, and to impose more tax hikes on the American people."
Congress passed legislation this week restructuring the $600 million FAA cuts to avoid the flight delays. President Obama has said he will sign it.
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Daily Political Wire
George Wenschhof
Boston Bombing Suspect Transferred to Federal Prison - The surviving Boston Marathon bombings suspect has been released from a civilian hospital and transferred to a federal medical detention center in central Massachusetts.
The U.S. Marshals Service said Friday that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev left Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center overnight and was taken to the Federal Medical Center Devens about 40 miles west of Boston.
The 19-year-old Tsarnaev is recovering from a gunshot wound to the throat and other injuries suffered during his attempted getaway. The Washington Post has more here.
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Senate Votes to Fix FAA Furloughs - The Senate moved quickly Thursday evening to help ease the Federal Aviation Administration's ability to handle automatic spending cuts set forth in the sequester.
Senators unanimously approved the "Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013" — a patch to fix the deep cuts that have furloughed air traffic controllers and delayed flights across the country.
The bill gives the FAA authority to spend up to $253 million of money already in the FAA's budget — but not allocated to pay for other things -- to keep employees on the job and make sure more flights a on time.
It was passed by unanimous consent, which means no senator objected.
The House could take the bill up tomorrow and pass it with 2/3 support of that chamber.
All of this was a last minute scramble to avert a crisis that was becoming more and more politically problematic by the day. NBC News has more here.
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Congress To Begin Immigration Reform Debate in May - The House will take a piecemeal approach toward immigration next month, just as the Senate begins the formal process of tweaking its carefully-crafted comprehensive reform proposal beginning May 9.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told reporters that his panel would begin working on a "step-by-step" process to move separate bills dealing with different elements of the nation's immigration system.
But that process is unlikely to include a measure giving undocumented immigrants a pathway to U.S. citizenship, a sticking point that has scuttled past efforts to overhaul immigration laws.
"I prefer not to see a special pathway to citizenship, but a status that we're to give them, some kind of legal status, that is certainly something that we should consider," Goodlatte told reporters. MSNBC.com has more here.
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Rehberg To Face Schweitzer in Montana Senate Race? - Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) announced this week that he will not seek re-election in 2014, opening a race that was already being eyed by the GOP. Rehberg, who lost to Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) last year, said in a statement to the Associated Press that he's been encouraged to consider running in the race.
"As to what the future holds, ever since Max announced his retirement two days ago my phone has been ringing off the hook. The encouragement I've been getting from Montanans to take a serious look at this race has been overwhelming," Rehberg said in the statement. "I owe it to them, and to all the folks who I've served over the years, to keep listening and see how things develop. I'm not ruling anything out at this point."
Popular former Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) said earlier this week that he isn't ruling out a run in the race either. TPM.com has more here.
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House Democrats Plan For Gains in 2014 - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel penned a Thursday memo to the caucus boasting about their edge in recruitment and fundraising for 2014.
According to a copy of the memo obtained by CQ Roll Call, the New York Democrat outlines section-by-section how, in his view, House Democrats are on track to make gains in 2014.
“We are ahead-of-schedule on recruitment, ahead-of-expectations on fundraising, and ahead-of-the-curve on defining the Republican Congress,” Israel wrote of his second cycle leading the DCCC.
In early April, a handful of Democratic challengers jumped into races across the country. March proved to be a historically successful fundraising month for the committee.
The DCCC’s financial advantage at this point in the cycle cannot be disputed. But National Republican Congressional Committee aides scoff at the Democrats’ strategy to tout recruits so early in the cycle. RollCall.com has more here.
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South Korea Pulls Citizens From Joint Plant - Troubled relations between North and South Korea suffered a fresh blow Friday after Seoul decided to withdraw all its remaining citizens from the manufacturing zone jointly operated by the two.
The televised announcement by South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae followed North Korea's dismissal of a request for talks about the deteriorating situation at Kaesong Industrial Complex.
Pyongyang halted activity at the complex this month amid heightened tensions in the region.
The South Koreans' imminent departure bodes ill for the future of the zone, the last major symbol of cooperation between the two countries. It had continued to operate throughout previous inter-Korean tensions during the past eight years. CNN.com has more here.
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Daily Political Wire
George Wenschhof
CIA Wanted Boston Bomber on Terror List - The CIA pushed to have one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers placed on a U.S. counterterrorism watch list more than a year before the attacks, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The CIA request led the National Counterterrorism Center to add Tsarnaev’s name to a database known as the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, or TIDE, that is used to feed information to other lists, including the FBI’s main terrorist screening database. The Washington Post has more here.
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Bomb Suspect Silent After Read Miranda Rights - Sixteen hours after investigators began interrogating him, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings went silent: he'd just been read his constitutional rights.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev immediately stopped talking after a magistrate judge and a representative from the U.S. Attorney's office entered his hospital room and gave him his Miranda warning, according to four officials of both political parties briefed on the interrogation. They insisted on anonymity because the briefing was private. Politico.com has more here.
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Judge To Rule on House Republican Benghazi Subpeona - President Barack Obama is resisting a congressional
subpoena for documents related to how the administration responded to the
revelation of the failed operation known as "Fast and Furious" on the U.S.-
Mexican border. It has already turned over thousands of pages of documents about
the operation itself.
Justice Department lawyer Ian Gershengorn told a hearing the matter was best
left to the give-and-take of the U.S. government's two elected branches, the
president and Congress, and should not be a matter for the courts.
"That is how it has worked for 225 years," said Gershengorn, referring to the
ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson was skeptical and told Gershengorn,
"There are three branches here, not just two." She did not say how she would
rule, but questioned Gershengorn for more than twice as long as she did House of
Representatives lawyer Kerry Kircher. Reuters.com has more here.
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Hillary Clinton To Earn $200,000 For Dallas Speech - On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton begins what will likely be the most lucrative part of her life – so far – as she gives her first paid speech in Dallas, Texas. She’s expected, like her ex-president husband, to command a whopping $200,000-plus for each appearance.
Clinton’s speech Wednesday at the posh Four Seasons Resort and Club in Dallas will be before the National Multi Housing Council and is conveniently located just 25 minutes from Southern Methodist University, the site of the George W. Bush presidential library, which opens Thursday. Clinton and husband, Bill, are expected to attend, as will the Obamas. NBC News has more here.
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Senator Graham Keeps Hold On Energy Secretary Nomination - Senator Lindsey Graham kept in place his block on Ernest Moniz’s nomination for energy secretary after a meeting today failed to clear up the lawmaker’s concern over proposed budget cuts to a plutonium processing plant in his state.
Kevin Bishop, a spokesman for Graham, said in an e-mail that the South Carolina Republican met with Moniz today. He confirmed that the lawmaker still has a “hold” on theMassachusetts Institute of Technology physics professor’s nomination to replace Steven Chu, who is returning to Stanford University in California. Bishop declined to comment on whether Moniz tried to satisfy Graham’s concerns.
“We’re talking with the White House, and we’re trying to get resolution quickly,” Graham told reporters today in Washington.“He’s a great candidate. He’d be a good secretary of energy.” Bloomberg.com has more here.
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Fitzgerald To Challenge Kasich in Ohio Governor Race - Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald (D) launched his campaign to unseat incumbent Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) Wednesday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.
The former Lakewood mayor, whom voters chose in 2010 as the first leader of a reshaped county government, starts with a potentially strong political base that encompasses one of Ohio's most Democratic areas. But his official entry to a race that is 17 months away speaks to the name-recognition challenges the relative newcomer faces elsewhere in the state. TPM.com has more here.
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Daily Political Wire
George Wenschhof
Obama to Speak in Dallas Today - President Obama is scheduled to speak on Wednesday in Dallas at a Democratic National Committee event, where around 60 people are expected to attend a dinner with the President and first lady.
The fundraising event is expected to net about $1 million, according to the report. During his trip to Texas, Obama will also attend the opening of former President George W. Bush's presidential library and a memorial for victims of the deadly fertilizer plant blast in Waco, Tex. The Dallas Morning News has more here.
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Obama Dines With Women Senators - President Obama hosted the 20 female U.S. senators for halibut, peach pie and a two-hour discussion of the economy and the federal budget Tuesday at the White House.
"The president enjoyed continuing his discussion with the senators about a wide range of items on the agenda, including working together to find common ground on budget issues and new initiatives to grow our economy, create jobs and strengthen the middle class," a White House official said.
Topics of conversation also included the bipartisan immigration bill under review in the Senate, last week's failed gun control vote and expanding education programs. TheHill.com has more here.
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Tamerlan Tsarnaev Was On Classified Watch Lists - The name of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was
listed on the U.S. government's highly classified central database of people it
views as potential terrorists. But the list is so vast that this did not mean
authorities automatically kept close tabs on him, sources close to the bombing
investigation said on Tuesday.
The sources said Tamerlan Tsarnaev's details were entered into TIDE, a
database maintained by the National Counterterrorism Center, because the FBI
spoke to him in 2011 while investigating a Russian tip-off that he had become a
follower of radical Islamists.
The FBI found nothing to suggest he was an active threat, but all the same
placed his name on the "Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment" list. The FBI
has not said what it did find about Tsarnaev.
But the database, which holds more than half a million names, is only a
repository of information on people who U.S. authorities see as known, suspected
or potential terrorists from around the world.
Because of its huge size, U.S. investigators do not routinely monitor
everyone registered there, said U.S. officials familiar with the database. Reuters.com has more here.
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Case Dismissed on Original Ricin Suspect - On Tuesday, the federal prosecutors dismissed all charges against Mississippi Elvis impersonator Paul Kevin Curtis in the case of ricin-tainted letters that were sent to President Barack Obama and other officials. After he was released from jail, Curtis and his attorneys held a gonzo press conference outside the federal courthouse in Oxford that included allusions to their theory that he was framed by another man, a promise of mass foot massages, and the tale of a dog named “Moo Cow.”
Though she said she doesn’t know “specifics,” Curtis attorney Christi McCoy said she believed investigators dismissed the charges against her client because they identified another person they believe was responsible for the attempted poisonings.
“The government was able to basically find another suspect who they believe is the true perpetrator of this heinous crime,” said McCoy. TPM.com has more here.
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Schweitzer Considers Run For Bachus Senate Seat - The decision by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to retire rather than run for reelection in 2014 casts a spotlight squarely on former Democratic governor Brian Schweitzer, a colorful and popular politcian who sports a bolo tie and often speaks of Washington in very unflattering terms. Schweitzer unquestionably represents Democrats’ best chance of holding the Senate seat in conservative-leaning Montana.
A person familiar with Schweitzer’s thinking tells The Fix the Democrat is leaning toward running. The Washington Post has more here.
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Hanabusa To Run for Senate - Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, has decided to run for Senate and will likely make a public announcement in the Aloha State next week during recess, a source close to the congresswoman told CQ Roll Call.
The decision comes four months after Hanabusa was passed over for the appointment to the seat of the late Sen. Daniel Inouye and sets up what will be a spirited Democratic primary battle with appointed Sen. Brian Schatz. RollCall.com has more here.
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Daily Political Wire
George Wenschhof
Obama Commends Officials Investigating Boston Bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Read Miranda Rights - Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was read his Miranda Rights during an initial proceeding at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where the suspect is being treated for gunshot wounds, according to a transcript of the proceedings.
In the same proceedings before Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler, Tsarnaev was also informed of the charges against him and maximum penalties.
Tsarnaev responded "no" when asked if he could afford a lawyer. Judge Bowler then provisionally appointed public defender William Fick to represent him.
At the end of the proceedings, custody of Tsarnaev was transferred from the FBI to the U.S. Marshals Service. The defendant agreed to a probate cause hearing scheduled for May 30 at 10 a.m.
President Obama on Monday spoke to FBI Special Agent Richard Deslauriers and Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, thanking them and other officials for their work investigating the Boston Marathon bombings. TPM.com has more here.
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Charging the Boston Bombing Suspect - The Washington Post has a good editorial today you can read in full here.
An excerpt: We have supported the use of military detention for foreign terrorism suspects captured abroad. But in Mr. Tsarnaev’s case, such a transfer would have been illegal. As Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institution has pointed out, Congress has authorized military detention only for militants who are “part of” or “substantially” supporting al-Qaeda or the Taliban. No evidence has surfaced that Mr. Tsarnaev had such connections; even if he did, his status as a U.S. citizen arrested in the United States means that his detention by the military would be subject to challenge on constitutional grounds.
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Obama Invites All Women Senators to Dinner - President Barack Obama on Tuesday evening will host all female senators for dinner at the White House.
Shortly after word of the dinner emerged from the White House on Monday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) took to Twitter to applaud Obama for hosting the women.
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Democrats Outraise Republicans in First Quarter - Congressional Democrats are leveraging their online fundraising edge and 2012 campaign wins to generate big money early in the 2014 election cycle.
Both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee outraised their GOP counterparts by wide margins in the first three months of 2013.
The DSCC nearly doubled the National Republican Senatorial Committee in fundraising, bringing in $13.7 million to the NRSC’s $6.9 million.
The DCCC outraised the National Republican Congressional Committee $22.6 million to $17.5 million. Both Democratic committees also have cash-on-hand advantages. TheHill.com has more here.
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Rangel Sues Boehner To Overturn Censure - Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is suing House Speaker John Boehner and six other lawmakers to overturn his censure on ethics charges, arguing that members of the House Ethics Committee withheld evidence that could’ve cleared his name. Politico.com has more here.
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Sequester Cuts Lead To Air Traffic Controller Furloughs - Dire predictions to the contrary, the furlough of FAA air traffic controllers (ATC) that began on Sunday hasn’t led to massive delays and cancelations. Although there have been sporadic issues since then, it’s safe to say the nation’s air transportation system hasn’t come to a grinding halt and that the sky most definitely hasn’t fallen.
“There are a lot of factors that go into creating delays so pinning it on one thing is difficult,” said Mark Duell, vice president of operations for FlightAware.com. “If there’s better staffing or the weather is good or there are fewer flights overall, everything would be fine. But when two or three of those are compromised, that’s when you get problems.” NBC News has more here.
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Monday, April 22, 2013
Wal-Mart Not the Answer for the Golden Mile
George Wenschhof
Daily Political Wire
George Wenschhof
Nearly 48 hours after he was taken into custody following an intense gun battle and manhunt, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was communicating with a special team of federal investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. He was responding to questions mostly in writing because of the throat wound, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The suspect remains in serious condition.
The throat wound may be the result of a suicide attempt, investigators said. You can read more here.
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Boston Bombing Suspect Faces Tough Prosecuter - As the top federal law enforcer in Massachusetts, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz has taken heat for being tough to a fault and coming down too hard on some defendants.
But as she builds a possible death penalty case against suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, the unflinching approach that earned her opponents in the past could become a legal asset for the biggest case of her career, said attorneys who have faced off against her.
"The criticism lately has been that they've over-charged some people and been overly harsh," said Peter Elikann, a Boston defense attorney. "I don't think that's relevant for Tsarnaev because no one is going to accuse any prosecutor of making too big a deal out of this case." Reuters.com has more here.
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Earth Day Reaches 43rd Anniversary - Monday is the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day. It is unfortunate that too many of our leaders — in business, government, and the community — are missing the big opportunity this day should represent. If the mission of Earth Day is to galvanize the American public behind a common goal of stewardship, shouldn’t we be promoting the most impactful efforts?
Consider this. Our nation is dead last among developed nations in energy productivity. In fact, the U.S. wastes more energy than it uses. A whopping 57 percent of the energy flowing into our economy is simply wasted as heat, noise, and leaks. Even China, a so-called undeveloped nation, ranks ahead of the U.S.
Mark R. Warner is a U.S. Senator from Virginia, and Tom King is U.S .President of National Grid. They co-chaired The Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy. You can can their entire op ed here.
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California is Latest State To Tackle "Fracking" - California is the latest state to embark on a fierce debate over whether and how to regulate the oil- and gas-extraction technique known as hydraulic fracturing — a controversy already roiling politics in rural Pennsylvania and inspiring an endless soap opera in New York state.
“As California goes, so goes the nation in some ways when it comes to environmental protection,” said Damon Nagami, senior attorney and director of the Southern California Ecosystems Project for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “We’re hoping to do that with fracking and oil development as well.” Politico.com has more here.
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International Atomic Energy Agency to Meet with Iran - Iran and the United Nations nuclear watchdog will have further talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear program on May 21 in Vienna, Iranian media said on Monday.
There was no immediate confirmation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), leaving unclear whether a firm date for the next meeting had already been agreed.
The IAEA-Iran talks are separate from, but have a bearing on, diplomatic negotiations between Tehran and six world powers aimed at a broad settlement to the decade-old dispute to head off the risk of a new Middle East war. You can read more here.
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Euro Zone Makes Slight Improvement - France and Spain fell short of their budget deficit goals last year, EU data showed on Monday, although the overall fiscal picture for the euro zone improved.
France's 2012 budget deficit was 4.8 percent of economic output, statistics office Eurostat said in the final reading of all 27 countries' public accounts. It compared with a target of 4.5 percent.
Spain's budget shortfall was 7.1 percent, excluding bank recapitalization - higher than the government's 6.98 percent official year-end reading, and well above Madrid's original target of 6.3 percent.
Overall, the 17-nation euro zone looked much better off at the end 2012, however. Its combined fiscal deficit was 3.7 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 4.2 percent in 2011 and 6.5 percent in 2010. You can read more here.
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Sunday, April 21, 2013
Daily Political Wire
George Wenschhof
Obama Receives Update on Boston Bombings Investigation - President Obama was briefed Saturday on the nascent investigation into the motivations of the two brothers suspected of orchestrating the Boston Marathon bombings.
At a White House meeting of the president's National Security Council, the administration's top intelligence, law enforcement and counter-terrorism officials updated Obama on Friday night's capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the younger suspect, and the ongoing probe to discover what might have inspired the attacks.
Among those briefing the president were National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the White House said.
Vice President Biden joined the 90-minute meeting by teleconference, the administration added. TheHill.com has more here.
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North Korea Moves Missile Launchers - An unidentified South Korean military source told the South's Yonhap news
agency that satellite imagery showed that North Korean forces had moved two
mobile missile launchers for short-range Scud missiles to South Hamgyeong
province.
"The military is closely watching the North's latest preparations for a
missile launch," the source said.
The North moved two mid-range Musudan missiles in early April and placed
seven mobile launchers in the same area, Yonhap said. A North Korean show of
force could be staged to coincide with the anniversary of the founding of its
army on April 25. Reuters.com has more here.
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Kerry Works To Restore Israel-Turkey Relations - Wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul, Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday sought to cement and speed up an improvement in relations between Turkey and Israel as well as explore new ways to relaunch Mideast peace efforts.
President Barack Obama has made both issues foreign policy priorities for his second term and Kerry was pushing them in meetings with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Politico.com has more here.
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Hagel Begins Middle East Trip - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel opened a weeklong visit to the Middle East on Sunday by pressing an American agenda focused on deterring Iran — including a significant new weapons deal for Israel — coupled with a strong caution that it was premature for the government in Jerusalem to opt for unilateral strikes on Tehran’s nuclear program.
During his travels, Mr. Hagel will be pushing forward with a $10 billion arms package intended to further increase Israel’s military edge over any other powers in the region while also bolstering the armed forces of two important Persian Gulf allies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The NY Times has more here.
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Prospects for Budget Deal Dim - Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee are growing more pessimistic that a bipartisan tax reform deal can get done this year, despite the best efforts of the panel’s chairman, Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.).
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed an interest in rewriting a tax code that has ballooned to 4 million words, while Ways and Means members just finished up work on 11 separate groups that examined all areas of the tax code – a process that Democrats and Republicans called helpful.
But the two parties also remain deeply divided over whether the government should collect more revenue, an argument that has only intensified after the recent fiscal cliff deal increased government collections by some $600 billion. You can read more here.
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Saturday, April 20, 2013
Sunday Morning "Talking Heads" Cheat Sheet
George Wenschhof
There will be plenty to talk about Sunday morning, surely to be highlighted with the Boston bombings, followed by the defeat in the Senate of gun violence legislation and the Senate "Gang of 8" rollout of their proposal for comprehensive immigration reform.
NBC "Meet The Press" will focus on the Boston bombings with guests chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and former FBI agent, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), and the Assistant Majority Leader in the Senate, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).
Plus, they will have the latest reporting and analysis from NBC’s Justice Correspondent Pete Williams and former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Michael Leiter.
CBS "Face The Nation" will also focus on the Boston bombings with guests Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Mike McCaul, R-Texas, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Tom Coburn, R-Okla., former Mayor of New York City during the September 11th attacks Rudy Giuliani and Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge.
Bob Schieffer will also discuss the Senate failure to pass any gun control measure with Newtown families Neil Heslin, father of six-year-old Jesse Lewis, Erica Laffety, daughter of Principal Dawn Hochsprung and Carlee Soto, sister of teacher Vicki Soto.
CNN "State of The Union" will also lead with the Boston bombings with guests Massachusetts Senator William “Mo” Cowan, Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), former Congressman & 9/11 Commission member Tim Roemer, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and former FBI profiler Candice DeLong on the national security implications.
Also appearing will be Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Following suit is Fox News Sunday where Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Representative Pete King (R-NY) will appear to discuss the Boston Marathon bombings.
The scheduled guests and members of the roundtable discussions follow below.
NBC "Meet The Press" - Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI)
Roundtable with Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff; The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg; NBC's Tom Brokaw; historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan.
CBS "Face The Nation" - Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Tom Ridge
CNN "State of The Union" - Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Massachusetts Senator William “Mo” Cowan, Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), Tim Roemer, Alberto Gonzales and Candice DeLong
Fox News Sunday - Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY)
Roundtable with Bill Kristol, Juan Williams, Jane Harman and General Michael Hayden
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Republican Weekly Address
George Wenschhof
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) praised the first responders to the tragedy and warned would-be terrorists that no act of violence can undermine the country's resilience.
"The Boston Marathon bombing has left us all with a heavy heart and we pray for the victims and their families," Scott said. "However, while the perpetrators of this act of terror hoped that they could shake the confidence of a city, they have instead only strengthened the resolve of our nation.
“To those who would attack America or our citizens, let me say this: There is no corner on Earth, no hiding place in America that will keep us from finding you," Scott added. “The leaders of this country will do everything in our power to bring justice for the families and the communities impacted."
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Obama Weekly Address
George Wenschhof
President Obama used his weekly address to recount acts of heroism and generosity in response to this week’s Boston Marathon bombing, declaring that the nation’s spirit will not be shaken.
“But in the days since, the world has witnessed one sure and steadfast truth: Americans refuse to be terrorized,” Obama said. “Ultimately, that’s what we’ll remember from this week. That’s what will remain. Stories of heroism and kindness; resolve and resilience; generosity and love.”
The president lauded the actions of police officers, emergency medical technicians and the national guard, who “ran toward danger” to help the injured. Also helping, Obama recounted, were race volunteers, spectators and exhausted runners, some of whom reportedly continued running to the hospital to donate blood for the victims.
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Strong Field of Democrats Emerge in Aldermen Race
George Wenschhof
