Democratic Chatter 3-22-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

President Barack Obama will appear tonight, on CBS "Sixty Minutes" - it will be broadcast at 7:00 PM ET. The president continues to defend Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in the interview. ThePage.Time.com has some excerpts from the show here. If Geithner's roll out this week of his plan to deal with toxic assets of banks flops, he is gone and the president is saying he accepts his resignation with regret...

The President and his family are spending the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat near Thurmont, Maryland. They will return to D.C. Monday morning.

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RNC raises more funds than DNC in February - The Republican National Committee, chaired by Michael Steele raised 5.1 million in February. While, the Democratic National Committee, chaired by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine raised 3.3 million. The DNC also has the 13 million email list from the Obama campaign. Grumbling is already happening among Democrats over the unusual part-time arrangement of Governor Kaine as DNC chair. Politico.com has more here.

It remains a mystery why the Obama administration was in such a hurry to replace Howard Dean as DNC chair. It was Dean's 50 state strategy which aided the success the Democrats experienced as they won the White House and gained majorities in the House and Senate. Dean was also passed over for any position in the Obama administration.

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Employee Free Choice Act receiving scrutiny - expect discussion on this bill also known as the "card check" bill to heat up over the next few months. Costco, Whole foods and Starbucks have offered a compromise proposal which would move from 50% to 70%, the number of employees required to have signed a authorization card to form a union. Stay tuned as this bill will be hotly debated. TheHill.com has more here.

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Decision due this week on Minnesota Senate race - nearly five months after the election, Judges are set to rule on the Senate race trial between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken. After a mandated state recount Franken was certified as the winner by 225 votes out of 2.9 million cast. The loser of this trial could still appeal to the state Supreme Court and ultimately to the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Minnesota is short one Senator. The Washington Post has more here.

Look to see efforts made to streamline legal remedies in regard to election disputes as voters are denied of representation as the legal due process works it's way through the system.

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Democratic Chatter 3-11-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

President Barack Obama to address Earmark concerns today - He is expected to sign the 410 billion omnibus spending bill today that was finally passed by the Senate last night. The bill was needed to keep funding government agencies through the end of the current fiscal year which ends on September 30. The bill contained countless earmarks from Republican and Democratic members of Congress worth about 20 billion or 5% of the total funding in the bill. The president will probably say something to the effect that this is a bill he inherited and sign it. Then he will discuss reforms he plans to institute to avoid earmarks in the future. Time.com has more here.

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Obama to nominate Seattle police chief Gil Kerlikowske to be U.S. drug czar - the president is also removing this department from a cabinet level. the office of National Drug Control Policy was raised to a cabinet level under the previous George W. Bush administration. Reuters.com has more here.

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Meanwhile, another nominee withdraws from consideration - Charles Freeman had been nominated by National Intelligence Director Admiral Dennis Blair to be Director of the National Intelligence Council. Freeman came under fire after disclosures he was less than pro-Israel and for statements attributed to him regarding the Chinese crackdown at Tianamen square. When it was apparent Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) would not support Freeman, he withdrew from consideration. Politico.com has more here.

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Chinese Foreign Minister to meet with Secretary of State Clinton today - a recent flare of tensions between the countries occurred when Chinese ships intercepted a U.S. intelligence ship in international waters off the coast of China. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Hillary Clinton are expected to discuss this incident along with broader U.S. - Chinese interests. You can read more here.

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In Minnesota, the Franken campaign last witness to testify today - the never ending trial is coming to a close - maybe. The ruling will most likely come next week but then there are possible appeals to the state supreme court and the U.S. Supreme Court. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has more here.

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Democratic Chatter 12-30-2008

George Wenschhof Bio

President-elect Barack Obama continues his family vacation in Hawaii - Yesterday, he and some close friends hit the golf course at Lanikai. The Honolulu Star Bulletin has more here. As he can surely tell from his daily briefings, he will have his hands full when he is sworn in 21 days from now with serious international and domestic issues to address.

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Israel air strikes on Gaza continue - the fourth day of targeted air strikes continue as Israel responds to persistent rocket attacks from Hamas. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert alluded to further escalation as he said the air strikes were the first of several stages. The NY Times has more here.

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More troubling economic news - Home prices fell 18% from one year ago in 20 major cities and now are at 2004 levels. Bloomberg.com has more here.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced yesterday an additional 6 Billion in aid to General Motors. Politico.com has more here.

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Rahm Emanuel to resign his Congressional seat Friday - The incoming White House Chief of Staff sent a letter to embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to inform him of his decision. The state constitution requires the Governor to set a date for a special election within 5 days and for it to be held within 115 days. The Chicago Tribune Swamppolitics.com has more here. It appears U.S. Senators are held in higher regard as their vacant positions are filled by appointment by the Governor.

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"Blago-watch" continues - U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has asked permission from the court to provide partial recordings of four conversations of Governor Rod Blagojevich. Fitzgerald wants to provide the tapes to the Illinois state committee considering impeachment of the Governor. CNN.com has more here. Although the committee is not a court of law, this could open up requests by the defense to have all the tapes released. Stay Tuned.

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Minnesota Senate race hinges on ruling pertaining to absentee ballots - a recent court ruling said approximately 1500 previously rejected absentee ballots should be counted. The court gave the campaigns of Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken until the end of the month to agree with the state canvassing board on a system to be used in counting the ballots. They have not yet reached agreement and now the Coleman campaign is pushing for additional absentee ballots to be counted. It has been reported Franken holds a narrow 47 vote lead prior to the count of the absentee ballots. The Minneapolis StarTribune.com has more here.

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