Daily Political Wire 8-24-2010

George Wenschhof

Stem Cell Research Banned by Judge's ruling - in a ruling yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth issued a temporary ban on federal funding of stem cell research. Politico.com has more here.

In effect, it says the executive order expanding federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells signed by President Obama last year violates the intent of the Dickey-Wicker amendment approved by Congress in 1996.

Expect the government to appeal to a higher court.

This decision could easily be ratcheted up and made a campaign issue in the upcoming mid term elections.

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Today, Vice President Joe Biden will give an update on the "787 billion Stimulus" bill - he will be joined by Energy Secretary Steve Chu and will talk about investments in science and technology. Politico.com has more here.

The Obama administration attempted to highlight the success of the bill with planned announcements across the country entitled "Recovery Summer". Unfortunately, the planned effort to highlight the successes of the bill has fallen flat as unemployment has remained steady at 9.5%.

In addition to the lack of a jobs program, the Stimulus bill was so varied and diverse, the resulting effects of reduced spending on a particular area of the economy has had little positive outcome.

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House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) to call for Firing of Obama's Economic Team - Budget Director Peter Orzag already saw the handwriting on the wall and left as has Christina Romer.

Boehner, citing continued high unemployment, will call for the ouster of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and White House Economic Adviser Larry Summers today at a speech in Cleveland, Ohio. The Washington Post has more here.

Democrats are already responding to the planned speech saying the Republicans will continue to criticize but offer no solutions. TheHill.com has more here.

The main reason Democrats remain competitive going into the mid term elections is the fact the Republican leadership of Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority leader John Boehner is so weak and ineffective.

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O'Malley widens lead against Ehrlich in latest poll - in a OpinionWorks survey released today by Center Maryland Maryland Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley leads former Governor Robert Ehrlich 47% to 41%.

In the Republican primary newcomer Brian Murphy, in spite of an endorsement from Sarah Palin, is only receiving 15% with Ehrlich receiving 75%.

However, the Baltimore Sun points out that many of the owners of the company conducting the polling have contributed to Democrats. In addition, two of the founding members; Steve Kearney was former communications director for O'Malley and Damian O'Doherty was a former aide to Baltimore County Executive James Smith. The Baltimore Sun has more here.

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Shirley Sherrod to Meet with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today - Ms. Sherrod was forced to resign after portions of a speech racist she had previously given which made her appear racist appeared on a conservative Blog. Subsequent airings of the entire speech proved the opposite. MSNBC.com has more here.

Let's see what job she is offered and whether she accepts.

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Former President Jimmy Carter heads to North Korea to help win release of American - Aijalon Mahli Gomes was recently sentenced to 8 years of hard labor for illegally entering the country.

Former President Bill Clinton was successful, less than a year ago, in gaining the release of two women journalists who had been jailed for illegal entry into N. Korea.

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MDP Chair Susan Turnbull Guest on "All Things Political with George Wenschhof"

George Wenschhof

I am pleased to have Maryland Democratic Party Chair; Susan Turnbull as my guest on the premier of "All Things Political with George Wenschhof". The show will air weekly on Mondays right here on my website. In addition to local, state and federal elected officials, my guests will include candidates for office and community activists.

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Ms. Turnbull. It is easy to see why she is in the position she is in as she is both well informed and very likable. During the show, Ms. Turnbull talks about the upcoming elections in the state of Maryland and the Maryland coordinated campaign. She goes on to discuss races they have targeted such as the Maryland 1st Congressional district where Democratic incumbent Frant Kratavil will likely face Republican Andy Harris.

My next guest will be Frederick County, Maryland Sheriff Chuck Jenkins (R) and the following week my guest will be Frederick County, Maryland Board of Commissioners President Jan Gardner (D).

We hope you enjoy the program. We also want to hear feedback and suggestions from you. If you have a comment you would like to share with us, please leave it by clicking on "Comment" below or by sending me an email at GeorgeWenschhof@gmail.com

To schedule an appearance on the show, place an advertisement or send a donation to help pay for production costs, also email me at GeorgeWenschhof@gmail.com



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Daily Political Wire 6-9-2010

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House - The Washington Post has more here.

Middle East Envoy George Mitchell has been the intermediary in the "proximity talks" between Israel and Palestine. His job has been made more difficult by the announcement by Israel of new building permits in the disputed West Bank and Israel's recent seizures of humanitarian aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip.

Perhaps Obama can broker a UN inspection process for humanitarian aid ships bound for Gaza that is acceptable to Israel.

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Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke to appear at House Budget Committee today - this morning, investors will be listening to the testimony by Bernanke and the stock market will respond. Bernanke is expected to say that growth will remain weak but steady and that there is little danger of slipping backward into another recession. Listen to his analysis of Europe's economy and that of China. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Blagojevich Trial Underway - opening statements were given by the government and the lawyer for the former Illinois Governor. The government prosecutors presenting a detailed time line of abuse which they say began soon after his election. The defense argued Blagojevich was a "C" student who surrounded himself with people he should not have, countered the prosecutors as to Blagojeich's intent and said he was broke today. Stay tuned... The NY Times has more here.

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Maryland Republican candidate for Governor Bob Ehrlich says he wants to make the state "open for business" - promises of reducing corporate and small business tax rates and the creation of commissions to study the current corporate income tax and unemployment benefit system were highlights of his speeches at campaign stops on Monday.

Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley's campaign countered with questioning why Ehrlich hadn't done those things when he was in office. Meanwhile, Maryland's unemployment rate of 7.5% remains among the lowest of any state in the nation. The Baltimore Sun has more here.

Interestingly, it was Ehrlich's pledge to offer commissions to state Department of Business and Economic Development top-level employees who brought corporations to the state that caught my attention. This type of incentive could easily lead to the careless action which was prevalent on Wall Street that lead the country into the severe economic recession which is still being felt today.

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MD Governor O'Malley to face Primary Challenge

George Wenschhof

After a period of speculation, Democrat George Owings III from Calvert, Maryland declared today he was running for Governor for the state of Maryland. His Facebook page said he was making the announcement today at a rally from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM at the Calvert County Courthouse in Prince Frederick, Maryland.

In an article yesterday in the Calvert News, Owings said his 17 years in the Maryland legislature and 3 years as cabinet secretary gives him a record to run on. He went on to talk about his differences with Governor Martin O'Malley on the Death Penalty and Economic Development. George Owings was also critical of how the Governor has handled Slots, referring to it as a mess and was disappointed in how O'Malley handled the merger between Constellation Energy Group and Electricite de France. He referred himself to a Louis Goldstein type of Democrat. Goldstein was a long term Comptroller of the Treasury for the state of Maryland.

Looking for more information on George Owings, I discovered a piece The BayNet.com also published yesterday. It seems that ten of the seventeen years he served as delegate in districts 27B and 29A, he served as Majority Whip. He resigned from the legislature to become State Secretary of Veteran Affairs.

Reacting to the announcement, the Maryland Democratic Party quickly and clearly signaled they were supporting incumbent Governor Martin O'Malley. In a post published today on the Maryland Democratic Party(MDP) website Online State Blog, Susan Turnbull,chair of the MDP asks "Who is George Owings?".

She refers to Owings "as a loyal appointee of Bob Ehrlich" and later goes on to add "George Owings' conservative record on tobacco, choice, women, health care, guns and the environment have led to his close affiliation with the state GOP and Bob Ehrlich. Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan has even said that he and George Owings agree on most issues."

With the additional battle to raise competitive campaign funds ahead of him, it appears Mr. Owings has his work cut out for him with his effort to become the Democratic Party nominee for Governor.

Which leads to the speculation this effort by Owings was supported by Republicans hopeful a Democratic primary would soften up O'Malley against the Republican Party nominee for Governor.

Rumored Republican candidates; former Governor Bob Ehrlich and state Senator E.J. Pipkin have both been silent on the matter.

Stay tuned....

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