Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Obama To Unveil Plans for Climate Change - President Barack Obama will unveil his plan to combat climate change in a speech Tuesday, detailing what's expected to be a proposal relying on executive actions, including the regulation of carbon emissions from existing power plants.
 
In a web video released by the White House on Saturday, Obama says he will use the speech to "lay out my vision for where I believe we need to go – a national plan to reduce carbon pollution, prepare our country for the impacts of climate change, and lead global efforts to fight it." It's scheduled for 1:35 p.m. Tuesday on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington.

The president doesn't get into specifics in his video, though he's expected to propose a series of executive actions that environmental groups have long called for, most of which would come out of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department.  Politico.com has more here.
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Where is Snowden? - Aeroflot says a Cuba-bound flight for which National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was registered has departed from Moscow, but he has not been seen on board.
 
An airline representative told The Associated Press that the Havana-bound flight has left Moscow. The representative, who wouldn’t give her name as she wasn’t authorized to speak to the media, said Snowden wasn’t on the flight.

AP reporters on the flight couldn’t see Snowden in the seat he booked or anywhere else on the plane.

The airline said earlier Snowden registered for the flight using his U.S. passport, which American officials say has been annulled.

Snowden arrived in Moscow on Sunday from Hong Kong, where he had been hiding for several weeks to evade U.S. justice. Ecuador is considering Snowden’s asylum application. TPM.com has more here.

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Mandela in Critical Condition - Nelson Mandela’s condition has deteriorated to “critical,” the South African government said Sunday night, nearly three weeks after the former South African leader and anti-apartheid icon was hospitalized with a recurring lung infection.

The office of South African President Jacob Zuma said that he and ruling African National Congress deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa visited Mandela, 94, on Sunday evening and that doctors informed them that Mandela’s condition had turned critical in the past 24 hours. The Washington Post has more here.

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70 Votes in Senate Possible for Immigration Bill - Immigration reform has gotten a new burst of life as a growing number of Senate Republicans have embraced the 1,000-page-plus legislation, setting up President Obama for a big victory this week.

The sudden surge in Republican support has been a pleasant surprise for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who urged the bill’s authors to focus on winning 60 votes — the minimum for passing it.

The House is the X factor. The lower chamber is expected to pass narrow immigration bills that do not include a path to citizenship, which is a staple of the Senate legislation. Conservatives in the House, including Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), strongly oppose the Senate bill.  TheHill.com has more here.

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50% Want Publicly Funded Campaigns - The Gallup poll shows half of Americans say they would personally vote for a law that establishes government funding of federal campaigns, while 44% would vote against it.

Americans are much more likely to support limiting the amount of money that U.S. House and Senate candidates can raise and spend for their campaigns. Nearly eight in 10 say they would vote for such a limit, whereas 19% would oppose it.  Gallup.com has more here. 

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Israel Launches Airstrikes Against Gaza - The fragile six-month cease-fire between Israel and Gaza was shaken overnight Monday as militants from the Palestinian coastal enclave fired at least six rockets against southern Israel and the Israeli military responded with airstrikes against what it said were weapons storage facilities and a rocket launch site in the southern Gaza Strip. The NY Times has more here.

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