Sunday Morning "Talking Heads" Cheat Sheet

George Wenschhof

A busy Sunday morning is shaping up with plenty of topics to discuss.

The Supreme court rulings on same sex marriage and the the Votering Rights Act will receive much of the focus of discussion on Sunday. 

The Senate passed Immigration reform this week and the bill now heads to the House where it is unlikely to pass.  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) appears on NBC "Meet the Press", where she will discuss this as well as the action by the Supreme Court in regard to the Voting Rights Act.

Also, be sure to watch wikileaks founder Julian Assange who will appear on ABC "This Week".  He is currently living in Ecuador to avoid extradition is rumored to be helping NSA snooping whistleblower Eric Snowden find refuge. 

Texas state Senator Wendy Davis, who became an instant nationwide hero with the "right-to-choose" supporters with her heroic filibuster to stop the Texas state legislature from imposing bans on late term abortions will appear on CBS "Face The Nation and ABC "This Week".

The scheduled guests follow below.

NBC "Meet The Press" - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) and Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS)

Roundtable discussion with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow; chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Ralph Reed; author and professor at Georgetown University, Michael Eric Dyson; President of the Heritage Foundation, Fmr. Sen. Jim DeMint; and NBC’s Pete Williams.

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CBS "Face The Nation" - Ted Olson, Texas state senator Wendy Davis (D), Retired Gen. Michael Hayden, former CIA and NSA director, and Tony Perkins

Roundtable discussion with The Washington Post's Michael Gerson, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous, Lehigh University's James Peterson, Univision's Fernando Espuelas and CBS News Chief Legal Correspondent Jan Crawford



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ABC "This Week" - Julian Assange, Texas state senator Wendy Davis (D),  Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin and National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown

Roundtable discussion with ABC News Political Analyst and Special Correspondent Matthew Dowd; ABC News Anchor and Chief Foreign Correspondent Terry Moran, who covers the Supreme Court for ABC News; Rep. Donna F. Edwards, D-Md.; and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan.

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CNN "State of The Union" - David Boise, co-counsel in the Supreme Court case against Proposition 8, House Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ Immigration Task Force Luis Gutierrez (D-IL).

Roundtable discussion with New York Times Magazine Chief Political Correspondent Matt Bai:, The Root Contributing Editor Corey Dade; Fmr. Sen. George Allen (R-VA) and democratic strategist Hilary Rosen.

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Fox News Sunday - Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Mario Siaz-Balart (R-Fla.), and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.)

Roundtable discussion with Kimberely Strassell, Jennifer Rubin, Juan Williams, and Mara Liasson

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Julian Assange Granted Bail

George Wenschhof

After spending one week in jail on charges of sexual misconduct, Wikileaks.org founder Julian Assange has been granted bail by a British Judge.

The sexual misconduct charges stem from incidents that allegedly took place in Sweden months ago. Questions have swirled as to the authenticity of the charges as Assange's arrest took place shortly after the latest release of U.S. diplomatic cables which have proved to be embarrassing.

Assange is fighting extradition to Sweden. Among the sexual misconduct charges include the use of a broken condom, which lead many to believe the charges are a response to the massive diplomatic cables release by Wikileaks. You can read more here.

Update: Sweden appeals Bail decision - seems Assange will be in jail at least another 48 hours until the appeal is heard by the Judge. You can read more here.

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Daily Political Wire 12-7-2010

George Wenschhof

President Obama Announces Compromise to Tax Cut extension - no surprises as it contained an extension of all the Bush tax cuts for two years and a 13 month extension of benefits for the long term unemployed. Also included was a 2% payroll tax cut, estate tax goodies and some other middle class tax cuts put in place under the Stimulus bill. FirstRead.com has more here.

Interestingly, early estimates have the cost of this unfunded proposal at between 600 - 800 billion which is equal to the cost of the Stimulus bill.

Liberal Democrats feel President Obama sold them out and should have fought harder. However, the reality is an extension of the cuts for those making $250,000 or less only would not pass in the Senate.

There is talk as many as 40 of the more liberal Democrats in the House will not support the compromise bill. Vice President Joe Biden has been dispatched to the Senate to garner support from Democrats.

Overall, when the liberal Democrats stop their whining, they will find Obama extracted more from the Republicans than he gave, with the main impact being a continued infusion of money into a weak economy, an important move at this point.

Look to see Obama pivot to balancing the budget when he gives his State of The Union address in late January, with a revision of the current tax code being a pivotal component of his remarks.

Obama hinted at this when he announced the compromise yesterday, it was included in the recommendations by the bipartisan deficit reduction committee and federal reserve chair Ben Bernanke said the same Sunday when he appeared on CBS "Sixty Minutes".

Stay Tuned...

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Overall Cost of Bail Out bill only 25 Billion - the much maligned 700 billion bail out bill has been almost entirely paid back in two years. Yesterday, the government sold it's remaining shares of CitiGroup for a 12 billion profit. The Washington Post has more here.

The bail out bill was necessary at the end of 2008 due to mass mismanagement of financial portfolios on Wall Street and the financial sector.

25 billion to avoid another Great depression seems like a small price to pay.

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Palin says No to RNC Chair - Sarah Palin says thanks, but no thanks to the suggestion by the activist group Tea Party Nation. ABC News has more here. Several Republicans have already announced they will challenge RNC chair Michael Steele.

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Waters Wants House Ethics Committee Reviewed - Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calf.) will introduce a resolution in the House. This comes after her ethics trial scheduled for November 29 was called off with no explanation. Afterward, two attorneys on the ethics committee were suspended, again with no explanation. Waters was accused of improper action in regard to a bank receiving bail out funds where her husband owned stock. Politico.com has more here.

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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange Arrested in London - the arrest stems from charges from Sweden relating to a consensual sexual encounter back in August. This incident was reported widely back then and charges were not filed. The NY Times has more here.

Interestingly, the charges in August followed the first release of U.S. military documents by wikileaks.org.

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Daily Political Wire 8-21-2010

George Wenschhof

Yesterday, the Democratic National Committee voted on the 2012 presidential primary calendar - Iowa will keep it's first in the nation date as they can set their caucus to February 6. The next three states in February will be New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. The rest of the states can set their primaries no earlier than March 1. You can read more here.

The broader problematic issues of Superdelgates and the awarding of delegates to candidates by state highlighted during the 2008 Democratic primary went largely unaddressed.

Vice President Joe Biden also spoke yesterday at the DNC convention meeting in St. Louis firing up the crowd by saying Democrats will still control Congress after the mid term elections this fall. The NY Times has more here.

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Republican National Committee Short on Cash - embattled chair Michael Steele has the misfortune of reporting only 5 million cash on hand prior to the mid term elections while also reporting a debt of 2 million. Politico.com has more here.

The DNC reported having 10.8 million cash on hand with a debt of 3.5 million.

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Talks with Taliban in Afghanistan Underway - without giving specifics, said Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) who is chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is back from a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan. You can read more here.

Presumably, the agreement would be for Taliban reintegration into Afghanistan society. This will be a difficult negotiation as the Taliban is a group of independent tribes across Afghanistan and into Pakistan who control various territory across those countries.

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Iran announces fueling of first nuclear power plant - designed for peaceful purposes and to produce electricity. It will take several months before the plant is operational. Iran has received UN sanctions for not being open with it's nuclear development programs. Reuters.com has more here.

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Arrest Warrant for Rape/Molestation issued for WikiLeaks.org founder Julian Assange - a Swedish tabloid is reporting the warrant has been issued and Assange is denying the charges on his "Twitter" page. MSNBC.com has more here.

Wikileaks.or recently released thousand of U.S. documents online pertaining to the Afghanistan conflict. They had announced plans to release another 15,000 documents within the next few weeks.

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