Daily Democratic Wire 7-1-2009

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will attend a town hall in Annandale, Virginia to discuss health care - He will also be answering some questions submitted via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The Washington Examiner has more here.

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Vice President Joe Biden begins Rural American "Listening Tour" - today in Wattsburg, Pennsylvania Biden will be joined by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak. It is expected one of the areas to be discussed today is how to increase broadband services in rural areas. The NY Times has more here.

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Yesterday, the Minnesota Supreme Court declared Al Franken the winner in the U.S. Senate race - finally, eight months following the election in November 2008, the state of Minnesota will have two Senators on Capitol Hill. Republican Norm Coleman conceded shortly after the supreme court released their 5-0 decision. The election had approximately 2.9 million votes and Franken won by 312 votes. The Democrats now have a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. They reach the magic number of 60 by counting Independent Senators Joe Lieberman (Conn.) and Bernie Sanders (Vt.) who both caucus with the Democrats. TheHill.com has more here.

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McCain and Feingold place a hold on Obama nomination to Federal Elections Commission - the nomination of labor lawyer John Sullivan has been placed on hold by Senators Russ Feingold (D-Wisc,) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). They are the two Senators who teamed up for campaign finance reform and are unhappy with the current status of the FEC. Politico.com has more here.

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Time for Republican Governor Mark Sanford (SC) to resign? - he continues to step in his own .... as a AP interview yesterday revealed additional indiscretions by the Governor. Unfortunately for the Republicans, S.C. Lt. Governor Andre Bauer has his own issues. The Washington Post has more here.

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Interim Honduras President Roberto Micheletti says he will not step down - the United Nations and the Organization of American States are pressuring Micheletti to allow the return of President Manuel Zelaya. The Honduran constitution only allows for a single term for their President and it is alleged Zelaya added a last minute and illegal amendment to the ballot allowing him to run again. It was this action that led to his ouster from the country. Zelaya has vowed to return on Thursday. Stay tuned. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Democratic News Chatter 4-14-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

Today, President Barack Obama will deliver a speech on the status of the U.S. economy at Georgetown University - It is scheduled for 11:30 AM ET.

This comes as reports show retail sales were down 1% in March after a 0.3% gain in February. Bloomberg.com has more here.

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Minnesota Court rules Democrat Al Franken the winner in U.S. Senate race - 51/2 months after the election, the three judge panel voted unanimously that Franken be declared the winner by 312 votes and certified by the state board of elections. Republican Norm Coleman is expected to file an appeal with the state supreme court. Politico.com has more here.

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Is this the best the Republicans can do? - continuing their theme of let's hope the Obama administration fails, their latest action is national "tea parties" aimed at protesting the Obama fiscal policies. Another is scheduled for Wednesday with events occurring across towns in the U.S. - of course this comes after years of fiscally irresponsible deregulation by the former Republican George W. Bush administration which led to the current economic crisis. CNN.com has more here.

Meanwhile, a CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted April 3-5 shows 60% of Americans feel President Obama is on track with the economy. You can read more here.

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Obama administration may change approach to talks with Iran - the u.S. may drop insistence that Iran shut down nuclear facilities as a precondition for talks. The new strategy would be a move toward Iran eventually agreeing to open inspections of their nuclear program. The NY Times has more here.

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Pakistan does not want conditions tied to U.S. aid - the proposed 83.4 billion war supplemental budget presented to Congress by President Obama includes 7.5 billion to Pakistan. The billions of U.S. aid to Pakistan under former President Musharraf was largely unaccounted for and drew questions from many. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) recently met with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani who also want the missile strikes by military drones to stop. TheHill.com has more here.

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