Democratic News Chatter 4-23-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

Today, President Barack Obama will meet with executives in the credit card industry - the president is seeking more protections for Americans who use credit cards. Most of the discussion will focus on deceptive higher fees and interest rates passed on to credit card users. Interestingly, the average family credit card debt was $10,679 at the end of 2008. Both the House and the Senate have "credit card bill of rights" bills being considered which focus on credit card use. Time.com has more here.

Tonight, President Obama and Michelle will host a White House dinner for Congressional members and their spouses.

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More Americans say country is headed in the right direction - in more good news for the Obama administration, for the first time since January 2004 more Americans say the country is moving in the right direction than say it is not. An AP/Gfk poll shows 48% of Americans feel the country is moving in the right direction. You can read more here.

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Democratic Leaders considering the use of budget reconciliation as a way to fast track approval of health care legislation - this legislative procedure has been used by Republicans as well in the past as they sought approval of their budget blueprint. If used, it would bypass any possible Republican filibuster and the need for 60 votes in the Senate. Instead, only a 51 vote majority would be needed in the Senate which would easily be obtained by Democrats. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Will Attorney General Eric Holder begin Torture Probe? - as more and more information has come forward, it appears certain an investigation will take place concerning actions taken by individuals in the former George W. Bush administration in regard to the approval of harsh interrogation techniques. Now, it has been released that both Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney approved the use of waterboarding as early as 2002 contingent on Justice Department approval. The attorney general, a week later, indicated the proposed interrogation techniques were legal. CNN.com has more here.

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On the foreign policy front, the rise of Islamic militants and the Taliban in Pakistan is extremely worrisome - Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified to the House Foreign Affairs committee on the impending danger in Pakistan. As she was providing her testimony, the Taliban seized control of the Buner district which is only 60-70 miles from the capitol of Islamabad. Pakistan is a nuclear armed nation whose government has been in a state of flux since the removal of President Musharraf. The NY Times has more here. Stay tuned as this is a major development in the region.

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Democrat Scott Murphy Increases lead to 365 votes in NY district 20 special election- this comes as some previously challenged ballots are being added to the totals by the NY board of elections. It appears it it will very difficult for Republican Jim Tedisco to make up the difference from the remaining challenged ballots. So much for the Republicans trying to make a big deal out of this election in a district where Republicans have the majority of registered voters. Politico.com has more here.

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Democratic News Chatter 4-22-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

Today, President Barack Obama will be in Newton, Iowa - Here. on Earth Day, Obama will talk about his Energy Plan. Newton is a small town which was hit hard with job losses by the closure of a Maytag plant a year ago. Trinity Structures Wind energy plant is now opening and plans to hire over 100 workers. The plant builds the structures for wind turbines. Time.com has more here.

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CFO of Freddie Mac dies from apparent suicide - David Kellerman was found dead in his home this morning. Freddie Mac is a government owned company that owns and guarantees home mortgages. They and Fannie Mae have both suffered huge losses due to mortgage defaults. Kellerman was named chief financial officer after the government took over the company in September of 2008. You can read more here.

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Government Stress-Test Reports on Banks due out Friday - reportedly the first round of the stress tests conducted by the government on the financial health of many Banks will be shared with them at the end of this week. The reports will be made public next week. The wall Street Journal has more here.

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Christopher Hill confirmed by Senate to be U.S. Ambassador to Iraq - Republicans had argues the career diplomat did not have direct experience in Iraq and did not speak Arabic. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) who is the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee supported Hill saying his experience made him the right person for the job. the vote was 73-23 with all of the opposing votes being Republicans. CNN.com has more here.

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Kathleen Sebelius to receive confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary within the next week - finally, the Obama Cabinet will be complete. The Kansas Governor received a 15-8 vote from the senate Finance Committee yesterday with all eight who opposed her nomination being Republicans. Tom Daschle was originally nominated for the position by the President but withdrew due to tax issues. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Prosecution possible for those who ok'd harsh interrogation techniques - President Obama left open the possibility of prosecution when he recently replied to the question this would mostly be up to the Attorney General to decide. Rueters.com has more here.

Recently released memos point out the huge number of times waterboarding was used on various individuals, some over 100 times, leading even more to question the validity of any confession obtained under these circumstances. Today, the NY Times has an article that describes how those involved in approving the harsh methods knew little about the techniques they were approving. You can read this article here.

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Frederick Co. MD "Up and Coming" Young Democrats

Spencer Knoll Bio

President Obama's friendly interactions with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during the Summit of the Americas are a welcome change from the policies of the George W. Bush administration. But, the criticism that has arisen from those interactions are not wholly without merit. It is important that the President consider his position in relation to that of Venezuela's President and act accordingly.

Chavez has spent several years in the global public's eye lambasting not just President Obama's predecessor but America as a nation. It would be foolish, then, to assume that he just happens to like Barack Obama and will now fall in line. No, he expects something from America.

Granted, I do believe that what he wants more than anything is respect, and we should be more than willing to show him that. We should be willing to have normal relations and mutual respect with any country willing to extend to us that same courtesy. But, we cannot allow leaders like Hugo Chavez to dictate the terms of a relationship with America. While that may not actually happen, appearances matter. Photos of a smiling President Obama shaking hands with President Chavez and patting him on the back give the wrong impression to the rest of the world.

CNN's senior political analyst David Gergen said it best when he commented that the President may want to "shake hands, [but] hold the smiles." We should treat Venezuela's President with respect and diplomatic courtesy, but given his track record, it is not time to elevate him to our level on the global stage.

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City of Frederick, MD Democratic Buzz

George Wenschhof Bio

Democratic Mayoral candidates:

We conducted our first of a series of online "Meet The Candidate" forums for Jason Judd and Jennifer Dougherty and were pleased that we were able to post their live answers to your questions without a glitch. I was concerned as to how my recently acquired computer skills would hold up!

You can read the questions and the responses by Jason Judd here. Jennifer Dougherty's responses can be read here. We will be holding these the beginning of each month throughout the primary campaign. If you miss the live date, we will post links in the right hand margin of our Home Page so you can easily access and read. They are a great way for you to get to know the candidate so make sure you post your questions when we ask for them and tune in for the candidate's live responses. I will also be interviewing the candidates at a future date and will keep you posted on when.

Jason Judd continues to attend house parties as he meets city residents and is planning a Chili primary fundraiser at his family's home in Yellow Springs. The date is Sunday May 3 and the cost is $25 per person and $40 per couple or family. All types of chili will be served, including vegetarian. To RSVP email carolynjudd8955@hotmail.com or call (301) 695-5766.

Jennifer Dougherty continues to gear up her city campaign after taking a short respite from her recent campaign for the 6th district congressional seat. It appears former city Public Information Officer Nancy Poss will be helping her in her campaign. Dougherty's press releases today sound like themes from a congressional race as she talks about the need for the city to "Get Off the Grid" with ideas on how the make the city use of energy more efficient. You can read her ideas on this here. She also talks about her idea of a "Civilian Conservation Corps 2.0" to help save the watershed. You can read her proposal here.

Democratic Aldermen candidates:

Kelly Russell who was the first to file several months ago, finally held a formal announcement yesterday. We published her announcement column yesterday and it can be read here.

Michael O'Connor and Andrew Kotkin are the other Democratic aldermen candidates who have filed to date.

All of links to the websites for the Democratic candidates are conveniently located in the right hand margin of our Home Page. I encourage you to check them out.

Incumbent aldermen David Koontz and Donna Kuzemchak are expected to run for reelection and this would bring the number to five.

Frederick County Young Democrat President Burke Miller informed me he was accepted into Law School and will not be running for alderman. Best wished for Burke. He has done a great job reestablishing the Young Democrats in the area.

Former City of Frederick Director of Planning and later Director of Community Development James Schermschal informed me he had given it some thought but he is busy aiding his parents who are in assisted care. He informed me his father just turned 89! Happy Birthday!

Frederick News Post columnist Katherine Heerbrandt reported in her column yesterday that Karen Lewis Young will be filing for aldermen soon. Karen is married to Ron Young and was a former President of the Board of Directors of the Weinberg Center. If she and Jennifer Dougherty were elected it would promise to be a better show than the Bill Hall - Jennifer Dougherty showdowns during Jennifer's term as mayor. When Karen was President of the Weinberg Board, she and Jennifer were constantly battling over the future direction of the Weinberg Center.

Rumors persist that former two-term alderman Bill Hall will also enter the race after recently changing his registration back to Democrat. He would be an automatic favorite as he is well liked in the community.

Carol Krimm, a member of the local Democratic Central Committee continues to be another possible candidate for alderman. She attended the city workshop last Wednesday evening and spoke of how the city should not have neglected to file the required paperwork with Frederick County Government to receive their reimbursement from the tax equity program.

When I ran for alderman in 1997, I spoke of how the county tax equity program no longer was equitable for the City of Frederick and the double taxation rate for city residents was unfair. The formula for the City of Frederick needed to change back in 1997 and still needs to today.

As other names surface and candidates announce, we will keep you posted.

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