George Wenschhof Bio
President Barack Obama's FY 2010 Budget to receive plenty of scrutiny - the summary for the fiscal year which begins October 1, 2009 was released yesterday. Full details of the budget will not be available until April. The total may reach 3.55 Trillion with the deficit near 1.75 Trillion. CNN.com has more here.
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President Obama proposes 1 Trillion in tax increases over the next decade on the wealthiest of Americans and companies - set to begin in 2011, this will reverse the Bush administration's policy and revert back to rates present during the Clinton administration. The highest rates of 33% and 35% would be increased to 36% and 39.6%. Capital gains tax would be increased from 15% to 20%. It is estimated this will affect 2.6 million taxpayers. The Republican trickle down theory has never proven to work. Bloomberg.com has more here.
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Vice president Joe Biden will be in Philadelphia today to chair the first meeting of the Middle Class Task Force - the meeting will include many members of the Cabinet from Labor, Energy, Agriculture, HUD, Education and Transportation. The meeting will be held at the William B. Irwin Auditorium at the University of Pennsylvania. WhiteHouse.gov has more here.
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Washington D.C. close to receiving vote in Congress - the only city without a vote in Congress moved a little closer yesterday when the Senate voted 61-37 to add a floor vote to their Representative. Currently, their Representative could serve on House committees, but have no vote on the floor. The bill still needs to pass the House and is expected to do so easily. The strange part is a amendment attached to the senate bill repealing all of the gun control laws in the district. Expect this to be removed as the bill is reconciled. The Washington Post has more here.
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CPAC set to hold straw poll for Republican Presidential candidates tomorrow - The Conservative Political Action Conference will conclude their three day meeting with the announcement of the results of who won the straw poll. The contenders for the dubious honor are all former or current Governors. The usual suspects include Jindal, Palin, Huckabee, Romney, Sanford, and Pawlenty. First, I wonder who will win and second, I wonder if the winner will flaunt the honor - egaad! MSNBC.com has more here.
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Democratic Party Leaders not happy with Obama plan for withdrawal from Iraq - the issue is not the extension from 16 to 19 months but rather the change from all troops to two-thirds of the troops. The 50,000 Troops planned to remain in Iraq has angered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calf.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), and Senator Charles Schumer (NY). Stay Tuned. Politico.com has more here.
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Special envoy George Mitchell in Israel for talk with Leaders - Israel's recent election was extremely close resulting in the more hard liner Benjamin Netanyahu, who does not believe in Palestinian statehood, being designated as Prime Minister. The moderate Tzipi Livni who lost the close election has not agreed to work as part of the Netanyahu government. This is the second trip in the last month for Mitchell who met with both Livni and Netanyahu yesterday. You can read more here.
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Friday, February 27, 2009
Democratic Chatter 2-27-2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Democratic Chatter 2-26-2009
George Wenschhof Bio
Today, President Barack Obama will send his first Budget to Congress - this will be for fiscal year 2010 which begins October 1, 2009. Early reports indicate it will include a 10 year 634 billion health care plan and 537 billion for military spending. Reuters.com has more here.
The President will also be at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina today where he will lay out his U.S. troop withdrawal plan for Iraq. As we indicated yesterday, the plan will call for two-thirds of the troops out in 19 months with a residual force of 50,000 to remain in country. House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) has already said she wants less troops to remain in Iraq.
If you missed President Obama's speech to congress and the nation on Tuesday night, you can watch some of the clips here.
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Meanwhile, the House voted yesterday 245-178 to pass a increase in the budget for the remainder of this year - this is a 410 billion budget in spending for the remainder of the current fiscal year which ends September 30 and represents a 8% increase from the previous year. As expected the bill passed mostly along party lines. The Senate still needs to vote on their version. MSNBC.com has more here.
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In a symbolic move of "I feel your pain", the House voted to freeze pay increases - they automatically receive annual cost-of-living increases every year. Their current annual salary is $174.000. The Senate has yet to vote on freezing their salaries. TheHill.com has more here.
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Housing industry continues to suffer - reports out yesterday showed that home prices dropped 18.2% over the last three months of 2008. Since the peak in the second quarter of 2006, home prices are down 26.7%. CNN.com has more here.
Compounding the problem, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales in January dropped 5.3% to the lowest level since July 1997. WTOP.com has more here.
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Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) asks President Obama to define executive privilege - he sent the president a letter yesterday in which he questions the White House appointments of Czars for health care, energy, urban affairs and others. His concern is do these positions have responsibility to Congress or do they fall outside of their scope of power. A good constitution question. President Obama is also facing a decision as to his position pertaining to Karl Rove, the former White House chief of staff for President George W. Bush. Rove is claiming executive privilege while refusing to answer a subpoena from the House Judiciary committee in regard to his role in the firing of 9 U.S. attorneys. Politico.com has more here.
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