Daily Democratic Wire 8-21-2009

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will meet with Tom Daschle - the White house meeting with the former Senate Majority Leader will most likely center on health care reform. RollCall.com has more here. Daschle had been the choice of the President to be the HHS Secretary and to be the point person on the Hill for health care reform.

Later today, the President and his family will head to camp David for the weekend. On Sunday, they will be off to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts for a week vacation. USAToday.com has more here. The President is also expected to visit ailing Senator Ted Kennedy during his vacation.

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Afghanistan election results not expected until tomorrow - and this is the earliest the vote will have been tallied. At this point President Hamid Karzai and his main opponent in the election, Abdullah Abdullah are both claiming victory in the election which had dozens running for President. The winner must receive a majority of the vote or a run-off takes place. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Blackwater used by CIA to arm predator drones - the close ties between the CIA and Blackwater continue to be revealed. The New York Times is now reporting Blackwater now renamed Xe Services, is being used in secret bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan to arm the predator drones used to conduct missile strikes on suspected Al Qaeda leaders. They also provide security for the secret bases. The NYTimes has more here.

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DNC out raises RNC by 3.3 million in July - seems the more outlandish myths on health care reform thrown out by the right wing Republicans increases Democratic donations. The Democratic National Committee reported 9.3 million and the republican National Committee reported 6 million. Politico.com has more here.

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Cash for Clunkers program to end next week - the popular program provided a 4500 rebate when you traded in an older care for a newer more gas efficient one. Congress just added another 2 Billion to the original 1 Billion funding level. To date,1.9 Billion has been submitted under the program. No additional funding is expected for the program. TheHill.com has more here.

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Daily Democratic Wire 8-20-2009

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will be a guest on conservative talk show host Michael Smerconish radio show - this will be broadcast from the White House from 1:10 - 1:30 PM ET. The President wanted to confront the conservatives head on with the issue of health care reform. You can read more here.

At 2:30 PM ET, the President will hold a live conference call with supporters - the continuing campaign organization of Barack Obama, now called Organizing for America, will host the call and anyone can listen in. If you want to watch or listen live and also ask the President a question, click here.

In addition, Organizing for America has a new page on their website entitled "Setting the Record Straight" which debunks all the myths being thrown about. You can read it here.

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1.2 Billion from Stimulus Plan available for medical digital records - today, Vice President Joe Biden and HHS Secretary Katheleen Sebelius will discuss these grants while in Chicago. You can read more here.

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Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) requests change in process to refill vacant senate seats in Massachusetts - obviously concerned in regard to his own failing health and the current upcoming vote on health care reform. Kennedy sent a letter to the Governor, House Speaker and Senate President asking consideration be given to allow the Governor to temporarily appoint a replacement to a vacant seat prior to when a special election would be held. The Boston Globe has more here.

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Initial unemployment claims up 15, 000 last week - for a total of 576,000 based on a new Labor Department report. A Labor department spokesperson said they hoped to see claims remain under 600,000 and and felt signs the recession was ending would be when they fall below 500,000. Reuters.com has more here.

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CIA hired Blackwater in secret assassination program - The NY Times has a good read today on how the CIA hired contractors from Blackwater USA for a secretive program designed to assassinate leaders of Al Qaeda. You can read it here.

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Afghanistan vote concludes and the count begins - initial reports indicated voting was slow and steady despite sporadic violence. The results are not expected until Saturday. You can read more here.

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Daily Democratic Wire 6-24-2009

George Wenschhof

Iran election to stand - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said they had no intention of altering the results of the vote. Yesterday, in a nationally televised press conference, President Barack Obama condemned the brutal and unjust actions taken by the Iranian government toward those who were protesting the vote. You can read more here.

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Afghanistan election on the horizon - current Afghan President Hamid Karzai is pretty much considered a U.S. puppet. He has limited travel within the country and when he does, he is heavily guarded by U.S. troops. His challenger to the presidency, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai warns of a rigged election on August 20. Stay tuned. Politico.com has a good read here.

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How weird is this? Republican Governor Governor Mark Sanford sighted - after disappearing last week without even his wife knowing where he was, the Governor was interviewed after arriving in Atlanta. After his staff had indicated he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, a ambitious news reporter had located the state vehicle he had been driving located in the parking lot at Columbia International Airport with a sleeping bag, jogging shoes inside. Upon being met at the Atlanta airport, his initial response was he had been in Buenos Aires, unwinding from a difficult session with the state legislature. There is surely more to come in regard to this story. This man was being considered a strong possibility for President on the Republican ticket in 2012. You can read more here.

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More Nixon Tapes and Documents released - expect more interesting tidbits to be released as the media pours over 154 hours of new tapes and 30,000 new documents released by the Nixon Library. Not exactly what the Republican Party needs at this point after being routed in the recent elections and polls showing less than 23% of Americans are Republicans.

The late Republican President Richard Nixon was impeached over the Watergate scandal and these additional released tapes and documents will be fascinating to read. So far, it is being reported Nixon stating in a conversation he believed the Republican Party should recruit attractive women to run for office - not because he was for women, but because he felt they would be competitive. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Climate Change Bill vote may come Friday - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) is pushing this forward for a vote and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) indicated he would not be moving it forward without the votes to pass. Not all Democrats are in agreement, but the president gave the bill a boost as he expressed his support yesterday in his press conference. TheHill.com has more here.

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Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke expected to give update on economy today - policy analysts have been in meetings for the past several days discussing possible actions in regard to the economy. Any action decided is expected to be announced at the end of the day. Time.com has more here.

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