Daily Democratic Wire 6-28-2009

George Wenschhof

President Barack Obama to meet with 250 Gay Leaders at the White House on Monday - in the East Room, they will be publicly commemorating the 40th anniversary of the modern gay rights movement. The president has come under fire recently from the gay and lesbian community for not doing enough in this area since his election. The NY Times has a good read here.

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David Axelrod says President Obama will not insist on public option as part of health care reform - in a major shift in policy, the White House Senior adviser said in an appearance on NBC "Meet The Press" today, there were no lines drawn in the sand when it came to health care reform. This is interesting as President Obama has attended town hall meetings and has publicly stated he insisted in a public option for Americans. Politico.com has more here.

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Supreme Court decision expected tomorrow on "hiring procedure" case previously ruled on by Sotomayor - Sonia Sotomayor, the nominee for the Supreme Court was one of three appeals court judges who ruled that officials in New Haven, Connecticut had had properly in regard to disallowing firefighter promotions based on racially skewered results. The lawsuit was filed by white firefighters. Expect Republicans to focus on this ruling as Sotomayor confirmation hearings begin in a week. You can read more here.

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Iran detains British Embassy staff - Supreme Leader Ayatollah ali Khamenei expressed his displeasure with statements from Britain he feels were meant to interfere with Iranian elections. Britain has demanded the immediate release of the Embassy staff. Stay Tuned. Reuters.com has more here.

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Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) call for limits of electronics sales to Iran - in the wake of the government restrictions imposed on communications after the recent Iran election. They are requesting action to be taken by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. TheHill.com has more here.

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Sunday Morning "Talking Heads" Guests 2-15-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

Hard to believe with all that has been going on, this Sunday will only be the fourth Sunday since Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States. As always, expect lively discussion on the issues with the "Talking Heads" on television Sunday morning.

You can count on the Stimulus bill receiving the bulk of the attention. The 787 billion compromise bill that came out of conference committee was passed by the House on Friday with a vote of 246-183, once again receiving not one Republican vote. The senate passed the bill Friday night with a vote of 60 to 38. It is expected to be signed into law by President Obama on Monday.

Expect discussion to focus on the strategy employed by the President, the content of the bill, and whether it can be expected to help pull the country out of a severe depression. Is there enough money for needed infrastructure improvements? Were there too many "pork' projects included in the bill? Is the aid to the states enough? Will the programs funded in the bill create enough jobs in a quick enough manner to have a positive impact on unemployment? How about the tax cuts - were they big enough to have any impact?

When the pundits finish dissecting the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act, expect the shift of focus to zero in on the Cabinet appointments by the President. Just when everyone thought the withdrawal by Tom Daschle from consideration for Secretary of Health and Human Services was a severe blow to the President, Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) made it 0-2 in Obama nominations for Commerce Secretary. Expect the vetting process by the Obama administration to receive attention this morning. White House counsel Larry Craig has now assumed control of the vetting process so let's see if there will be improvement.

On the foreign policy front, the President has sent special envoys and the Secretary of State all across the globe. So discussion could range from Pakistan/Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, to the Middle East and Asia.

So grab your coffee or tea and settle in for some good political discussion this morning. Remember to check your local listings for time and channel. Following is a list of the morning shows with their scheduled guests.

NBC "Meet The Press" - Dick Gregory will interview Senior White House Adviser, David Axelrod. The roundtable will include Ron Brownstein, Eugene Robinson, Roger Simon, and Kimberly Strassel.

ABC "This Week" - George Stephanopoulos will interview Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Also appearing will be Representatives Maxine Waters (D-Calf.) and Peter King (R-NY).

The roundtable discussion will include Donna Brazile, George Will, Cokie Roberts, and Sam Donaldson.

CBS "Face The Nation" - Bob Schieffer will interview White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Also appearing will be Senator Richard Shelby (R-Al) and Representative Barney Frank (D-Ma.).

Fox News Sunday - Chris Wallace will also have Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod. He will also interview Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Economist Mark Zandi.

CNN "State of The Union" - John King will also interview White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. He will also have on his show Senator John McCain (R-Az.) and Gwen Ifill.

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Sunday Morning "Talking Heads" Guests 2-8-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

This will be the third Sunday morning following the inauguration of President Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. The honeymoon period is effectively over as the President suffered setbacks with several of his Cabinet nominees withdrawing from consideration and his much ballyhooed Stimulus bill receiving critical scrutiny in the Senate.

With unemployment at 7.6% and consumer borrowing dropping at record numbers, expect the President's American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan to receive plenty of discussion. In spite of Obama saying there would be no pork included in his Stimulus bill, the House passed a 819 Billion bill which had many questionable funds which caused the bill to stall in the Senate. Many Republicans criticisms center on some of the funding is not creating jobs.

Friday night the Senate was still working on crafting a compromise with a target figure of 780 Billion which is down from the original 900 Billion Senate version of the bill. Currently, it looks like this will go to a vote with Sunday being a target date. It takes 60 votes to take it to a vote and that may be all the President gets on this bill.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is also scheduled to announce Monday new rules and guidelines for the remaining 350 Billion of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) - more commonly known as the bailout bill. This is likely to receive plenty of analysis from the pundits today as well.

White House counsel Larry Craig has now taken over the vetting process after repeated embarrassment, so let's see how the pundits feel he will do with those chosen to replace Tom Daschle for Secretary for Health and Human Services and Nancy Killefer for Chief Performance Officer. Latest rumor to be named for HHS Secretary is Governor Phil Bredesen (D-Tenn.) so expect this name to be floated along with former DNC chair Howard Dean.

On the foreign policy front, some discussion this morning may focus on George Mitchell, the Middle East Envoy just back from a visit of the region. He met with the President and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a briefing of his visit this week.

The vice-President is also off to Germany to attend and speak at the annual Munich security conference. He is scheduled to speak Saturday so this speech may be dissected Sunday morning along with a comment from earlier in the week where he said there was a 30% chance they will get the Stimulus bill wrong. The latter comment drew a rebuke from White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod.

As always, plenty to discuss Sunday morning. Below is the list of the Sunday morning "Talking Heads" shows with the scheduled guests. Remember to check your local listings for time and channel.

NBC "Meet The Press" - David Gregory will have Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) along with Representatives Barney Frank (D-Ma.) and Mike Pence (R-In). Also appearing will be Washington Post senior Pentagon correspondent Tom Ricks.

ABC "This Week" - George Stephanopoulos will have chief economic adviser Lawrence Summers and newly named chair of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele. The roundtable discussion will include Newt Gingrich, George Will, Claire Shipman and Robert Reich.

CBS "Face The Nation" - Bob Schieffer will have Senators John McCain (R-Az.) and Kent Conrad (D-ND). Also appearing will be Christina Romer, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Fox News Sunday - Chris Wallace will also have Lawrence Summers and Senator John Coryn (R-TX).

CNN "State of The Union" - John King will have a busy Sunday morning with lots of guests starting with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Also appearing will be Senators Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Charles Schumer (D-NY). Other scheduled guests include Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC), Jack Welch, former GE CEO, Katie Couric, CBS News Anchor and Dee Dee Myers, former White House press secretary.

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