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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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Daily Democratic Wire 7-1-2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Daily Democratic Wire 6-25-2009
George Wenschhof
Last night, President Barack Obama appeared in a ABC televised town hall meeting to discuss health care reform - he acknowledged compromise was necessary for passage of the bill but insisted on the option of publicly funded health care. ABCnews has more and a video clip here.
Tonight, the president will entertain members of Congress, staff, and their families at the White House - the plan is to hold a traditional luau -sounds like good eats! 2,500 are expected to attend. Politico.com has more here.
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Discussion on Immigration bill to begin today at the White House - the president has invited senior members of Congress to begin the discussions leading to a bill on Immigration. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is the chair of the Senate subcommittee on immigration and Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.) is the leading Republican on the committee. Expect this to be a slow moving piece of legislation as it is a highly charged issue. The NY Times has more here.
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S.C. Republican Governor Mark Sanford was missing with the other woman - The Governor is now back - seems the Governor has been having an affair with a woman who lives in Argentina. The dalliances of politicians have always caught the attention of voters and this one promises to provide more fodder for water cooler talk and late night comedians.
While Democrats have had their share of indiscretions, this comes at a bad time for Republicans. Sanford, who had been considered a contender for the GOP nomination for president in 2012 has resigned as chair of the Republican Governor's Association and Governor Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) has replaced him. The next question is will he resign as Governor of South Carolina? The Washington Post has more here.
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Non-Partisan redistricting on the horizon? - don't count on it, but a bill has been introduced in the House to do just that. Representative John Tanner (D-Tenn.) has introduced a bill that would be similar to what Washington state does when it comes to redistricting. A five member board is appointed with two members each being appointed by the Republican and Democratic caucus. The fifth member must be approved by all of the 4 appointed members. This idea would certainly go a long way toward ending the crazy and sometimes ridiculous gerrymandering that has been proposed by political parties in power across many states in the country. Great idea, but I don't look to see it pass. TheHill.com has more here.
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Senator Arlen Specter looks very vulnerable in 2010 reelection bid - after falling from grace with the republican party, Specter switched to the Democratic party. He received assurances from Democratic leaders, including the president, he would not face a primary challenge. Only problem was Representative Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) wasn't listening to the party leaders and made it known he intended to run for the seat. Sestak may be on the right track as a recent poll showed only 28% of Pennsylvania voters supporting Specter. Politico.com has more here.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
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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Saturday, April 4, 2009
Sunday Morning "Talking Heads" Guests 4-5-2009
George Wenschhof Bio
The past week has been an incredible week for President Barack Obama. He continues to ride a wave of popularity in both domestic and international issues. The week began with the announcement of a new auto bailout plan with conditions. One of those conditions was the ouster of Richard Wagoner, the CEO of General Motors. Tongues will move on that move this Sunday morning with some wondering why the White House has been tougher on the auto industry than the financial industry. New GM CEO Fritz Henderson will appear on NBC "Meet The Press".
In spite of unemployment hitting 8.5%, the highest in 26 years, the Dow Jones registered gains for the last four straight weeks and closed above 8000. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, perhaps bolstered by this news will be the guest on CBS "Face The Nation".
On Thursday, the House and the Senate voted to approve the President's 3.55 trillion budget in non-binding resolutions. The final approval is expected by the end of this month
President Obama has wowed them overseas so far and the first leg of his trip was agreement by the G-20 to provide over 1 trillion to the IMF along with adding new regulations to the financial markets. Along the way he met with Russian president Dimitry Medvedev and they agreed to a meeting in Moscow to discuss further nuclear arm reduction. Not satisfied with that, Obama also met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and the two agreed to a meeting in China by the end of the year.
Stops in France and Germany continued the positive vibes for Obama and the NATO summit in Prague is up next where cooperation in rebuilding Afghanistan will be discussed. Dr. Susan Rice, U.S. UN ambassador will be the guest on ABC "This Week".
It appears the Talking Heads" are a little weak with guests with foreign policy experience and that is a disappointment. However, that may be because everyone is overseas with the President. Nonetheless, the discussion will be great. So plan to tune in and watch.
The guests are listed below. Remember to check your local listing for time and channel.
NBC "Meet The Press" - Dick Gregory will interview new GM CEO Fritz Henderson. The roundtable discussion will include John Harwood, Katty Kay, Dr. Bill Rogers, and Joshua Cooper Ramo.
ABC "This Week" - George Stephanopoulos will have as his guest Dr. Susan Rice, the U.S. UN ambassador. The roundtable discussion will include George Will, David Frum, Richard Haas, and Martha Raddatz.
CBS "Face The Nation" - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will sit down with Bob Schieffer.
Fox News Sunday - Chris Wallace has Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC), and Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.)
CNN "State of The Union" - John King also has new GM CEO Fritz Henderson and Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod. Also appearing will be Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
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