George Wenschhof
Today, President Obama heads to New York to deliver speech on financial reform - with Republicans currently expressing optimism about passing a bill, expect the President to take a more conciliatory tone at Cooper Union.
The need for financial reform was a concern for Obama dating back three years. The NY Times has more here.
Shortly after returning to D.C., President Obama will also give remarks pertaining to the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. It is hard to believe 40 years have passed since the first Earth Day celebration.
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) gets boost in Nevada Senate race from GOP candidate - Republican senate candidate Sue Lowden who had been leading in the early polls, made a ridiculous statement concerning health care that could come back to bite her. TPM.com has more here.
She was speaking on how people could keep heath costs down by bartering with their doctors - and gave the example of giving their doctor a chicken for health care services. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee already has a web page up "Chickens For Health Care".
Reid is hardly the most charismatic or dynamic speaker and leader, but he has served in a dignified manner as Senate Majority Leader during one of the more difficult periods in Congressional history. He deserves to be reelected.
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GM early repayment of 6.7 billion loan sign that government intervention is working - the huge bail out bill, followed by government ownership of auto manufacturers had some nay sayer's going a year ago. Today, GM is moving toward a public offering of stock as early as the end of this year, at which time the overall 50 billion investment by the government would be repaid. Perhaps, this will show how government intervention can help in the restructure and saving of a failing large business. TheHill.com has more here.
In addition, 12 federal reserve banks reported a 2009 income of 53.4 billion, up 17.9 billion from the previous year. This, primarily due to mortgage backed securities held as a result of the bailout bill (TARP). CNN.com has more here.
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Initial Unemployment claims drop 24,000 - for the week ending April 17. Bloomberg.com has more here. Keep an eye on these figures as the drop in initial claims should continue from this date through the summer as seasonal employment opportunities become available to job seekers.
A drop in the overall 9.7% unemployment rate by September would be an added boost for the Obama administration and Democratic candidates in the mid term elections this Fall.
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Thursday, April 22, 2010
Daily Political Wire 4-22-2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Daily Political Wire 4-1-2010
George Wenschhof
Today, President Obama will be in Portland, Maine where he will be discussing the benefit's of health care reform for small businesses - on his return to Washington, he will stop in Boston to attend fund raisers on behalf of the Democratic National Committee. AP has more here.
Maine also happens to be home for two moderate Republican Senators; Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Look to see the President find a way to mention them in a favorable manner. He will need their support in upcoming financial reform, climate and immigration legislation.
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Yesterday, President Obama spoke at a Forum on Workplace Flexibility - it was held by the White House Council on Women and Girls. He spoke of the changing dynamics in the home and the workplace and the need for employers to use job sharing, flexibility and telecommuting. Also needed is employer and/or government assistance for child care.
I wrote a column on this issue published in the November 2009 issue of the magazine 270Inc entitled "Women Leading the Charge for Workplace Changes." You can read it here.
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Unemployment Claims down 6,000 - in signs the country is slowly emerging from a severe recession. However, 439,000 remain on unemployment and receiving benefits. Bloomberg.com has more here.
“We are turning a corner in the labor market,” said Julia Coronado, a senior U.S. economist at BNP Paribas in New York, who had forecast a decline in the weekly jobless claims. “Businesses are gradually starting to have more confidence in the recovery.”
While summer is approaching and seasonal jobs should help reduce unemployment, I still advocate for the need for federally funded "public service employment" programs. These programs would put the unemployed to work immediately providing needed public services. It would also assist cash strapped states, counties and municipalities as they are faced with significant staff cuts. The funding should come from the already approved 800 billion Stimulus bill.
These "public service employment" have a proven track record and would be phased out as the economy improves.
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Obama off shore drilling announcement politically motivated - not that this should come as a surprise coming from a President. The hopes are the announcement, while angering the left, will cater to Senate Republicans where one or two are needed to pass the Climate bill. Speculation is the announcement will also remove off shore drilling as a campaign issue for Republicans in the Fall mid term elections. The Washington Post has more here.
As to the passage of the Climate bill, the "cap and trade" provision in the House bill is the most volatile issue in the bill. If, the bill is passed by Congress, expect that provision to be removed.
The reality remains that off shore drilling will take decades to produce any usable oil and the expected oil reserves when tapped will only provide a small number of years of energy use for America.
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35 Billion Air Force Refueling Tankers Update - seems the visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy with President Obama paid off. TheHill.com has more here. The Pentagon announced it will delay the bid submission date for the contract for 60 days if EADs notifies them of their intent to bid. EADs is headquartered in France.
Sarkozy was more successful than Senator Richard Shelby (R-Al.) who failed in his efforts (putting holds on 70 Obama appointees) to keep Northrup Grumman (who has a large company in Alabama) in the running for the contract.
Boeing, who was in the running as a sole source bidder, can not be very happy right now.
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Daily Democratic Wire 3-11-2010
George Wenschhof Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Today, President Obama will meet with the Black and Hispanic caucuses - a variety of issues will be discussed, but you can be sure the passage of the health care reform bill will be at the top of the list. Politico.com has more here. The president traveled to St. Louis yesterday and gave another "fired up" speech in favor of passing health care reform.
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Vice President Joe Biden responds to Israeli announcement of 1600 new building permits in the disputed West Bank - while he personally and the U.S. have been a long term friend of Israel, he says sometimes a friend has to tell you when you are wrong. He goes on to say this was not the right time to make such an announcement on the eve of the "proximity talks" beginning between Palestine and Israel. He states the U.S. will continue to point out whenever either country makes a statement or takes an action which impedes the peace process. You can watch a video of Biden's speech here.
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Unemployment claims drop for second straight week - for the week ending March 6, initial claims were down 6000. The number who are receiving unemployment insurance has grown but the number receiving extended benefits has declined. Bloomberg.com has more here.
I still advocate for remaining funds from the Stimulus bill to be used to fund public service employment programs to last for the next 12-18 months. These programs would take many off unemployment insurance, and put them to work providing needed public services which have suffered cut backs due to budget deficits being faced by local and state government across the country.
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Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) to announce Senate Financial Regulation bill - as chair of the committee, he has been unable to receive Republican support, in spite of months of negotiations so he will announce the bill himself. The House passed a finance regulatory bill last December. At issue, is the creation of a Consumer Finance Protection Agency. The NY Times has more here.
While, a lot of what is being proposed is worthwhile and needed, the most important issue of allowing financial institutions to be too big to fail is not addressed.
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Senators chuck Shumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to meet with Obama today to discuss Immigration Reform - a much needed discussion which hopefully leads to meaningful reform. Health care reform and the economy has taken the front seat for some time so after the passage of health care reform, immigration reform deserves the attention from the White House. It will be just as tough as health care to pass, but equally important for the future of our country. Politico.com has more here.
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Thursday, March 4, 2010
Daily Democratic Wire 3-4-2010
George Wenschhof
Later this morning, President Obama will sign the Trade Promotion Act - it is designed to create jobs, encourage travel to the U.S. and help the tourism industry. Politico.com has more here.
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Unemployment claims drop 29,000 - for the week ending February 27. This is a three month low. However, initial unemployment claims still stood at 469,000. Unemployment is expected to hover around ten per cent for the remainder of the year. Bloomberg.com has more here.
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Pelosi picks Representative Pete Stark (D-Calf.) to chair House Ways and Means Committee - after Charles Rangel (D-NY) temporarily stepped down from the position. Stark is considered a liberal and has a history of making some wacky statements. I had felt a good choice would have been Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). Stark becomes the sixth Representative from California (Pelosi's state) to chair a committee in the House. TheHill.com has more here.
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Illinois Democratic U.S. Senate candidate gets grilled by Chicago Times Editorial Board - seems Alexi Giannoulias's family owned Broadway Bank is on the verge of failure due to troubled loans. Including, some to convicted bookmaker Michael Giorango. Alexi Giannoulas and his family were also paid 70 million in dividends between 2007 to 2008. The Chicago Tribune has more here.
Illinois politics remains interesting to watch.
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In Maryland, the state Democratic Party continues to hammer away at former Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich - incumbent Governor Martin O'Malley (D) is running for reelection and no Republican candidate has announced to date. Speculation is strong that Ehrlich who narrowly beat Democratic candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in 2002 and then lost to O'Malley in 2006 will announce his intention to reclaim the Governor's Mansion. The state Democratic Party is making sure the voters remember who Ehrlich is and recently released a video on how Ehrlich is a friend to special interests.
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Iraq Parliamentary Elections could slow U.S. troop withdrawal - the fear is the possibility of renewed violence due to ethnic and sectarian issues within Iraq as a result of the election on Sunday. The NY Times has more here.
The agreed upon plan is for the U.S. to reduce to no more than 50,000 troops inside Iraq as of September 1. The U.S. currently has 90,000 troops in Iraq. The inability to keep to the timetable would be another issue for the Obama administration to contend with and could possibly impact the mid term elections as well.
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Pakistan announces capture of 150 Caves used by the Taliban - an elaborate and hidden network of caves located in Bajaur at the Afghan/Pakistan border which were used to run Taliban operations. ABCNews.com has more here. This continues the Pakistan government crackdown on the militants in their country started by President Zardari.
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Thursday, April 16, 2009
Democratic News Chatter 4-16-2009
George Wenschhof Bio
Today, President Barack Obama is off to Mexico - He will meet with President Calderon and they will hold a joint press conference at 4:15 PM ET. Obama is then off to attend the fifth annual Summit of the Americas. Time.com has more here.
Prior to departing for Mexico, the president talked about the need to modernize the country's rail system.
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Housing starts down 10.8% in March - the Commerce Department report was not good news after they had reported an increase in housing starts in February. This is the second lowest level of starts for the month since the 1940's. Let's see how the markets react to this news today. You can read more here.
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Unemployment Claims drop - in a bit of good news, the Labor Department reported initial jobless claims were down 53,000 last week to 610,000. This is the fewest since January. So, the financial markets will have some conflicting reports out there. Bloomberg.com has more here.
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Obama forms committee to develop simpler tax code for Americans - he charged the committee will submitting it's recommendations by the end of this year. Meanwhile, Republicans across the country protested government spending by holding "tea party" demonstrations. MSNBC.com has more here.
Republicans have been reeling since losing the White House and both chambers of Congress in November. While recent polls show 60% of Americans agree with President Obama's economic policies, this was a good showing of support for Republicans. However, lack of clear leadership and policies of their own continue to hurt the Republican party.
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Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign debt finally paid - well sort of....when Ms. Clinton suspended her campaign in June 2008, the campaign was 25.2 million in debt. She was unable to pay herself back the 13.2 personal loan by the mandated deadline of the date of the democratic National convention, so the campaign had to forgive that debt. It appears the remaining 12 million has now been paid as the most recent financial report showed 2.6 million in the bank and 2.3 million in debt. Political strategists Paul Begala and James Carville who have long been known as Clintonistas have been helping raise money to retire her debt. CNN.com has more here.
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