George Wenschhof
Clinton Appears Before Congress on Benghazi - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday fired back at Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) over accusations that the Obama Administration misled the public by claiming the Benghazi attack was the result of a spontaneous protest. Johnson pressed Clinton on why the State Department didn't talk to the U.S. diplomatic staff evacuated after the attack, to get clear information about what happened.
"Senator, when you're in these positions, the last thing you want to do is interfere with any other process going on," Clinton said, adding that the State Department was waiting for the FBI to finish conducting interviews.
"I realize that's a good excuse," Johnson responded.
"Well, no, it's the fact," Clinton said. "Even today, there are questions being raised. We have no doubt they were terrorists, they were militants, they attacked us, they killed our people. But what was going on, and why they were doing what they were doing, is still, is still unknown."
Clinton forcefully insisted neither UN Ambassador Susan Rice nor the Obama Administration misled the public. "With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans," she said. "Was it because of a protest, or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make? It our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, senator. Now, honestly, I will do my best to answer your questions about this. The fact is that people were trying, in real time, to get to the best information."
Clinton's prepared statement can be read here.
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Hillary Clinton Enjoys 67% Approval Rating - Fully 67 percent of all Americans in a new
Washington Post-ABC News poll now express favorable views of the outgoing
secretary of state, a record high in the survey for Clinton, albeit by a single
percentage point. By contrast, just 19 percent of people said they approved of
the way Congress was doing its job in a Post-ABC poll released last week.
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House To Vote Today On Extending Debt Limit To May 19, White House Will Not Oppose - The measure — set for a vote Wednesday in the House — would not resolve the
dispute over how to control the national debt. But after the traumatic “fiscal
cliff” episode at the end of last year, it would buy policymakers a little
breathing room to continue the argument without another economy-rattling
deadline just around the corner.
The White House tacitly endorsed the proposal Tuesday, issuing a statement
that said Obama “would not oppose” the temporary respite. The president has
called for a long-term extension of the Treasury Department’s borrowing
authority, which he argues would “increase certainty and economic
stability.” The Washington Post has more here.
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GOP Tries To ReGroup - Two days after President Obama’s inauguration, all the Democratic celebrations, the parades and inaugural balls, Republicans today begin heading to Charlotte, NC for the RNC’s winter meeting, where they will lick their electoral wounds and start to regroup. Here’s the bad news for the GOP: According to the most recent NBC/WSJ poll, the party’s unfavorable rating (49%) is at its highest point since 2008. The Obama White House and Democrats forced the GOP to fold its opposition to raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans (though the agreement extended tax breaks for everyone else). And it has retreated -- for now -- on using the debt ceiling to demand additional spending cuts (and will instead use the budget process for that fiscal fight).
The real action in Charlotte begins tomorrow: That brings us to the upcoming RNC meeting in Charlotte, which happens to be the same city where Democrats held their triumphant convention last year. Per NBC’s Carrie Dann, the real action begins taking place tomorrow, when Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks at a dinner and when the RNC’s “Growth and Opportunity Project” -- the party’s effort to improve upon what went wrong in the last election -- will discuss its research. And on Friday, the 168 RNC members will elect the party chairman for the next years. It’s widely expected that current RNC Chair Reince Priebus will win re-election. NBC FirstRead has more here.
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Daily Political Wire
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Daily Political Wire
George Wenschhof
Obama Inauguration Speech: Moving America Forward - a powerful speech as President Obama set the tone for his second term. Not satisfied with the status quo, Obama took on the need for action in the areas of climate change, gun control, immigration, the need to help those less fortunate and became the first president to mention Gays in an inaugural speech, when he appealed for the need to treat everyone fairly.
An excerpt: “It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For
our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn
a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay
brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law for if we are
truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal
as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for
hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a
better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as
a land of opportunity until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in
our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete
until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia,
to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and
always safe from harm.”
Below are some of the first media reactions to the speech.
New York Times: “Obama Offers Liberal Vision: ‘We Must
Act’”
Washington Post: “Obama Gives Bold Vision of American
Future”
Wall Street Journal: “Obama Vows Aggressive Agenda”
Associated Press: “Obama Stands His Ground on Fiscal
Debates”
Los Angeles Times: “In Obama’s Inaugural Speech, A Sweeping
Liberal Vision”
Politico: “Obama Dodges Entitlements”
The Hill: “Budget Tax Increases Would Put Red-State Democrats
in Tough Spot”
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Will Senate Pass Filibuster Reform? - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will present colleagues with options for reforming the Senate’s filibuster rules in a Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday.
Reid will not trigger the so-called nuclear option on Tuesday, as some Republicans have feared. Under the nuclear option, Reid could change the Senate’s rules with a simple majority vote.
Freshman Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) signed on to the Merkley-Udall "talking filibuster" proposal Tuesday, characterizing her move as an effort to end partisan gridlock and change the status quo. TheHill.com has more here.
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Majority Support Immigration Reform with Pathway to Citizenship - The CNN poll found Fifty-three percent of Americans want the federal government to focus on developing a plan to allow illegal immigrants to become legal residents. CNN.com has more here.
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Virginia State Senate Pulls Fast One on Redistricting - Republicans took advantage of the absence of a Democratic state senator (and civil rights leader) to push their surprise legislative redistricting through what is usually an evenly divided state Senate. State Sen. Henry Marsh’s (D) trip to the inauguration of President Obama briefly made the Senate makeup 20-19 in favor of the GOP, letting Republicans launch their surprise attack. TPM.com has more here.
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Wasserman Schultz Expected To Be Relected DNC Chair Today - The Democratic National Committee is expected to make it official Tuesday, by formally re-electing Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida as DNC chair.
By tradition, a sitting president gets to choose who leads his party committee, and early last month President Barack Obama said he wanted the Democratic congresswoman from Florida to stay on as party chairwoman. Wasserman Schultz got some credit for helping the president narrowly carry her home state, a crucial battleground in the race for the White House, and for helping the party pick up seats in both the House and the Senate.
Wasserman Schultz's re-election by committee members will be the main order of business as the DNC holds its one day annual winter meeting. The gathering, here in the nation's capital, comes one day after Obama's second inauguration. CNN.com has more here.
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Israel Prime minister Netanyahu Expected To Win Third Term Today - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to win a third term Tuesday in
the first election in decades in which the Mideast peace process didn’t take
center stage, with many Israelis focused more on economic woes than ending their
conflict with the Palestinians.
The election comes at a troubled time for Israel. Netanyahu’s hard line on
concessions to the Palestinians has put Israel into conflict with the
international community, increasing its diplomatic isolation.
A declining economy and ballooning budget deficit mean painful government
spending cuts and possible tax increases are in store for an electorate already
bowed by the high cost of living. Time.com has more here.
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Monday, January 21, 2013
Watch Obama Inauguration Speech
George Wenschhof
In case, you missed it, the 18 minute speech was powerful with the use of "We the people" as President Obama called on Americans to take action to reverse climate change, reform immigration laws and enact new gun-control measures during an inaugural address devoted to the potential of citizens to drive their government.
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Daily Political Wire
George Wenschhof
Obama used a speech to hundreds of supporters at the National Building Museum Sunday night to remind the crowd that "what we're doing is celebrating each other and celebrating this incredible nation that we call home."
Obama said the inauguration is a reminder that "there is something bigger than ourselves." He kept his comments brief and quipped that he has to save some of his lines for his speech Monday.
The President left the White House in a motorcade to the U.S. Capitol at about 10:45 AM ET en route to give his inauguration speech scheduled for 11:45 AM ET.
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Will Republicans Continue To Obstruct? - Ted Cruz, the newly elected Tea Party senator from Texas, embodies the rigidity the public grew to loathe in Congress’s last term. He is bursting with fervor to fight compromise and consensus-building in Washington wherever it is found. Unlike 85 percent of the Republicans in the Senate, he would have voted against the fiscal cliff deal.
Considering the damage that this kind of thinking did to the country and the Republican Party over the last two years — a downgraded credit rating, legislative standoffs, popular anger, a loss of Republican seats — it might seem obvious that the party should marginalize lawmakers like Mr. Cruz. Instead, they continue to gain power and support. You can read the entire NY Times editorial here.
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House Republicans Propose Extending Debt Limit To May 19 - House Republicans on Monday unveiled legislation that will suspend the debt-ceiling until May 19, setting the stage for a floor vote as soon as Wednesday.
While past measures to address the debt limit have simply increased the borrowing cap, the House bill would actually suspend the debt limit for three months. Then, on May 19, the debt limit would be automatically increased from $16.4 trillion to accommodate whatever additional borrowing the Treasury had done during that time frame.
The House Rules Committee posted the text of legislation as Washington prepared for President Obama’s second inauguration. In addition to preventing default, the bill would withhold members' pay if Congress fails to pass a budget by April 15. TheHill.com has more here.
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Biden Says Environment Will be Focus in Second Term - Vice President Joe Biden reassured environmentalists Sunday night that the Obama administration would not let climate change fall by the wayside in the president's second term.
"I'll tell you what my green dream is: that we finally face up to climate change," Biden said during a surprise appearance at the "Green Ball," an inaugural weekend event for environmental groups.
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36 Hostages Killed in Algeria - Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said Monday that 36 foreign hostages and one Algerian were killed at a natural gas complex that was attacked by an armed Islamist group last week and retaken by Algerian forces in a bloody battle Saturday.
The death toll included two more Americans, bringing to three the number of Americans confirmed killed in the international hostage crisis, the Associated Press reported, citing a U.S. official. It said seven American hostages survived. The Washington Post has more here.
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