Daily Political Wire 7-2-2010

George Wenschhof

Today, President Obama attends the memorial services of the late Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) - earlier this morning, the president will comment on the disappointing job numbers and the Stimulus bill. This evening, he will depart to Camp David; the presidential retreat located in the Catoctin Mountains near Thurmont, Maryland.

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Unemployment figures troublesome - 125,000 less jobs were available last month as construction and service related industries were not adding to their payrolls. Bloomberg.com has more here.

The jobless rate dropped from 9.7% to 9.5%, but that was due to a reduction in the size of the labor pool brought about by long term unemployed no longer actively seeking employment.

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Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wa.) now on board for Wall Street Reform bill - she will help to ensure passage by the senate when they return after the July 4th break. She and fellow Democratic Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) had been saying "No" as they felt it did not go far enough.

Cantwell wants a return of the Glass-Seagall Act which separated investment and commercial banking. She is right about her position for the decision to repeal the Act during the Clinton administration is what led to the Wall Street meltdown. However, she will now support the bill passed by the House earlier this week.

With a replacement for the late Senator Byrd (D-W.Va.) to be sworn in after the break, Democrats with the support of Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine will be able to avoid a sure Republican filibuster.

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The long term replacement process for the late Senator Byrd is still being debated - some calling for a special election this year and others saying 2012. The final decision will impact West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin who previously intended to run for the senate seat in 2012. Politico.com has more here.

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House passes FY'11 1.12 Trillion "Budget Enforcement Resolution" - Due to Democrats not wanting to deal with a traditional budget resolution because it would show the large deficits prior to the upcoming election. The vote was 215-210.

It is 7 billion less than President Obama had and it does not reflect where the cuts will come from. Instead, leaving it for the bipartisan budget reduction commission appointed by President Obama. TheHill.com has more here.

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Daily Political Wire 3-26-2010

George Wenschhof

President Obama fires up crowd in Iowa City, Iowa - he gave a resounding speech on the benefits of the health care reform bill he had signed into law. He referenced the Republicans promise to work to repeal the law and said "let them go for it".

The president is right; are Republicans going to campaign on repealing that an insurance company can not drop your coverage for a pre-existing condition? Or, how about dropping the coverage for your kids in college which the bill allows you to keep on your coverage until they are 26.

Recent polling data is already showing the voter is in favor of these health care changes and as more of the Republican myths are exposed and the health care changes go into effect, the voters will overwhelmingly support it.

The Republican failed strategy of "No" has exposed them as not having the best interests of Americans in mind. Instead, they should be striving to help the country emerge from the most difficult economic times since the 1930's and help move the country forward.

Charlie Cook of the Cook Political report is sticking to a prediction that mirrors the average mid term election gain of 25-35 seats in the House for the political party not in the White House. Part of his analysis are the gains through the health care reform bill will offset the Republican myth effort. This will not be enough for Republicans to regain control of the House.

However, it would even out the House and perhaps this would be a good thing as the political parties would have to work together to move legislation.

Tonight, President Obama is off to Camp David, the presidential retreat located in the catoctin mountains near Thurmont, Maryland.

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Health bill amendments pass Senate and House - after defeating over 40 ridiculous amendments offered by Republicans, the senate approved the house amendments with a 56-43 vote. The only Democrats to vote against were Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas along with Ben Nelson (Neb.).

The parliamentarian did find two technical and minor issues which needed to be addressed concerning an educational component of this bill dealing with some calculations pertaining to the issuance of Pell grants. The Senate passed bill then went to the House and received a 220 - 207 vote which now goes to the president for signature.

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Unemployment 30 day extension stalls in Senate - once again, funding for a myriad of programs is being held up by Republicans. This happened recently when Senator Bunning (R-Ky.) filibustered the last extension. if agreement between the House and Senate is not reached today, funding would stop until Congress returns after a two week Easter recess. Programs affected would be unemployment benefits, COBRA benefits for the unemployed, federal funding for highways, and reimbursement fees to doctors serving Medicare patients. Politico.com has more here.

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Obama expected to announce new program to help Homeowners facing foreclosure - today, the details of a 14 billion program paid for from funds form the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Anticipated elements of the bill include refinancing of millions of current troubled mortgages into government back mortgages with lower payments. The NY Times has more here.

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Daily Democratic Wire 8-2-2009

George Wenschhof

Yesterday, President Barack Obama and his family took the short Helicopter trip to Camp David - they are spending the night at the presidential retreat and returning on Sunday. The retreat, located about 20 miles north of the City of Frederick, Maryland has quickly become a favorite get-a-way for many presidents.

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This week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is off to Africa on a seven nation tour - on Wednesday she will head to Kenya to attend the Sub-Saharan African Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (AGOA). It will be a busy trip with stops in S. Africa, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia and Cape Verde. While in Kenya, Clinton is scheduled to meet with Somalian interim President Sheik Ahmed and promise U.S. aid to his country. You can read more here.

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Britain and Australia withdraw from Iraq - the U.S. is now the only country left of the weak coalition built by former President George W. Bush. The complete withdraw of Britain and Australian troops from Iraq was hardly given any media attention. You can read more here.

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Back home, unemployment remains a major problems for many Americans - the figures show over 9 million receiving benefits and the unemployment rate at 9.5%. Extension to 79 weeks of benefits were granted by Congress but 500,000 stand to loss benefits by the end of September and another 1 million by the end of the year. Congress will need to look at another extension of benefits. The NY Times has more here.

Earlier, in my life I spent time as an employment and training administrator. I provided testimony to Congress on employment and training programs that led to the enactment of the Job Training Employment and Training Act (JTPA) which resulted in an invitation to the bill signing ceremony by the President. During these high periods of unemployment, what is needed by government is public service employment programs to put people to work providing some public service in their communities. Hopefully, we will see this soon.

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Food Safety Bill passes House - with all the attention on health care reform, little notice was given to a food safety bill that was passed by the House 283-142. This is a critical bill as maintaining healthy and safe food system for the future is critical for all Americans. As one could imagine, the bill is coming under fire by all sorts of different agriculture groups and food distributors across the country. The bill now needs to be taken up in the Senate so we'll see how far it goes. TheHill.com has more here.

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