Democratic Chatter 3-21-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

President Barack Obama in his weekly address to the nation discusses how his proposed budget is equal to the task before us.

download .mp3 or .mp4 also available here read transcript

--------------------

Meanwhile, the Congressional budget Office (CBO) reports the deficits under the Obama budget would equal 9.3 trillion - this is one-third larger than the projections coming from the Obama administration. Expect the 2010 budget battle to heat up soon. TheHill.com has more here.

--------------------

Then, Senator John McCain (R-Az.) followed with a statement saying the budget proposed by President Obama is a "threat to the nation" - he went on to say how the budget threatens the future of our children and grandchildren. With that statement, the budget battle is now engaged. CNN.com has more here.

--------------------

Also Yesterday, federal regulators took over two credit unions with combined assets of 57 billion - The U.S. Central Credit Union and the Western Corporate Federal Credit Union are considered the two largest credit unions in the country. McClatchydc.com has more here.

--------------------

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to announce next week his toxic asset plan -Geithner and the White House had better hope he does a better job than he has to date in explaining his plan to the public or else Geithner is sure to be gone. The plan has been hinted at previously and involves the private sector investing with the government to buy troubled mortgages. Let's see how the roll out goes next week and let's hope it works to help stabilize the financial system. Politico.com has more here.

--------------------

To receive "Daily Email Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.

Democratic Chatter 2-15-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

President Barack Obama and family are spending the long weekend at home in Chicago, Illinois - last night he went out to dinner with the First Lady on Valentine's Day. Today, a video he taped promoting community service will be shown at halftime of the NBA All-Star game. CNN.com has a clip of his message here.

It is now expected the President will sign the 1,100 page, 787 billion Stimulus bill on Tuesday while in Denver, Colorado.

--------------------

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner addressed members of the G-7 on U.S. efforts on the global economic crisis - the 6 hour meeting in Rome was attended by officials from major European countries, Canada, Japan and Russia. Geithner's initial roll out of his plan was not received very well in the U.S. last week as many felt it was too vague and lacked specifics. He explained to world leaders the plan was detailed and stressed the importance of acting now and not later. MSNBC.com has more here.

--------------------

Some industry executives complaining about pay restrictions included in the Stimulus bill - Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) included the pay limitations in the bill which is now scheduled to be signed on Tuesday by the President. Although this is a reasonable restriction on executives of companies receiving public funding, expect a constitutional challenge in the future. Bloomberg.com has more here.

--------------------

Blagojevich's brother solicited funds from Roland Burris - seems the former Illinois Governor continues to torment the Obama administration and the Democratic Party. The newly sworn in Senator filed an amendment to his statement to the Illinois House Impeachment panel. In the amendment, Burris says the former Governor's brother Rob called three times and solicited $10,000 in campaign contributions from Burris. Expect Republicans to jump on this revelation. It would also appear Senator Burris may have some explaining to do. Stay tuned. TheHill.com has more here.

--------------------

Remember the Immigration debate? - it continues to simmer as it received very little attention during the Presidential campaign and little to no attention since President Obama has taken office. The debate over the building of the multi-billion border fence begins to heat up as 8 Democrats recently wrote a letter to the President asking him to halt the construction of the fence. In 2006, Congress with then Senator Obama voting in favor, funded 3 billion for 670 miles of the fence. You can read more here.

--------------------

To receive "Daily Email Updates? from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.

Democratic Chatter 2-6-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

Welcome to Washington, Mr. President - President Barack Obama is finding his first weeks in office to be anything but easy. He has had Cabinet nominees withdraw due to tax issues and others have their confirmations delayed due to questions that should have been addressed during the vetting process.

Now, the 900+ Billion Stimulus bill vote in the Senate is being delayed due to lack of consensus. It was expected to be voted on last night. But, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could see the writing on the wall and postponed further discussion until today. A major question from both sides of the aisle is the low level of funding in the bill for infrastructure improvement across the country and questions surrounding funding a myriad of other items unrelated to what had originally been proposed.

Reid is saying if the bill does not come to a vote today, he will get the necessary 60 votes on Sunday to call for the vote to pass the bill. Expect many changes and compromises to have transpired overnight. Reuters.com has more here.

--------------------

598,000 Jobs lost in January adds urgency to pass Stimulus bill - unemployment now is 7.6%, the highest since September 1992. The number of jobs lost in the last four months now exceeds 2 million. The NY Times has more here.

--------------------

President Obama to name Economic Advisory Board today - we reported yesterday that Paul Volcker, a former Treasury Secretary was in a little bit of of a snit as he had not been named to head the special committee appointed by the President to offer advise on getting the country out of the economic mess it is in. Well, today, he gets his time in the spotlight when he appears with the President. Let's hope he and the committee gives good advise. CNN.com has more here.

--------------------

On Monday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will spell out new Economic Stability Plan - this will be a revision of (TARP) the Troubled Assets Relief Program which the remaining 350 Billion was recently authorized by for the Treasury to spend. Expect more help to go to troubled mortgages to help Homeowners with more transparency and accountability to be included in the revisions put forward by Geithner. What is unknown is whether he intends to up the current budgeted amount of 350 Billion and ask Congress for more funds. CNN.com has more here.

--------------------

Labor Secretary nominee Hilda Solis confirmation delayed - taxes pop up once again for a nominee for the President's Cabinet. This time it pertains to the husband of the nominee. Solis is already facing opposition due to her support of Labor so this recent issue is not so surprising to have popped up at this late date. Politico.com has more here.

--------------------

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has pancreatic cancer - she had surgery yesterday in what has been said to be very early stages of cancer. She is 75 years old. During the Presidential campaign, due to the age of some of the Justices on the Supreme Court, it was often discussed that the next President could easily be responsible for appointing several Supreme Court Justices. Let's hope for a rapid recovery for Ginsburg. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

--------------------

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Senate race saga continues - the state mandated recount resulting in the canvassing board verifying Democrat Al Franken the winner by 225 votes. Then incumbent Republican Norm Coleman filed suit asking for additional previously rejected absentee ballots be counted. The court just recently said up to 4800 ballots could be argued to be counted by the Coleman campaign.

Now, the Franken campaign is asking the court for more previously rejected absentee ballots to be counted. The issue of contention is where the ballots are from with some areas favoring conservative and other areas, more liberal candidates. How about just reviewing all the remaining 20,000 rejected absentee ballots? Just a thought. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has more here.

--------------------

To receive "Daily Email Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.