Election Central Morning Roundup
Today: Illinois House Set To Impeach Blago
The Illinois state House is expected to vote today to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, after the special impeachment committee approved its full report yesterday evening. Assuming that Blagojevich is impeached by the House, the case will then proceed to the state Senate for a trial.
Obama Press Conference This Morning
Barack Obama is holding a press conference at 10:30 a.m. ET, officially billed as an "announcement." Specifically, Obama is expected to announce the appointment of Leon Panetta as head of the CIA, and retired Adm. Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence.
Joe Biden In Pakistan
Joe Biden has arrived in Pakistan, accompanied by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), where they will be meeting with government officials. The Pakistan trip is the first part of a longer South Asian tour.
Pelosi: Bush "Did Great Harm To America"
In an interview with PBS, Nancy Pelosi declared: "I think the Bush presidency did great harm to America, with this war, with the enormous budget deficits, the challenges to the Constitution of the United States, the financial crisis that we are in." Pelosi also found it very curious that Bush recently said his attempt to privatize Social Security was his proudest achievement -- even though he didn't succeed at it.
Geithner Preparing Overhaul Of Wall St. Bailout
The Washington Post reports that incoming Secretary of the Treasurer Timothy Geithner is working on a reformulated second half to he Wall St. bailout, a necessity if Congressional authorization for the additional $350 billion is to be obtained. The new package would expand aid well beyond Wall St. itself, giving aid to municipalities, small businesses and homeowners.
Blunt, Talent Looking At Missouri Senate Race
House Minority Whip Roy Blunt and former Sen. Jim Talent are reportedly among the Republicans who are considering a run for the Senate seat of retiring GOP Sen. Kit Bond. Both have their strengths in terms of experience and popularity with the party base, but both have their drawbacks -- Blunt's son Matt just retired after one term as an unpopular governor, and Talent lost re-election in 2006.
Chris Christie Running For New Jersey Governor
U.S. Attorney Chris Christie has announced that he is running for governor of New Jersey against Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine. Christie starts out as the immediate frontrunner for the Republican nomination and should be taken very seriously, thanks to his record of putting corrupt politicians from both parties in prison.
Campaign Spending Hit Record High In 2008
Bloomberg reports that campaign spending by candidates and political parties for all federal offices reached a record high of $4.1 billion in 2008, blowing away the $3 billion from 2004. This statistic can be viewed in different ways: Is it a matter of too much money in politics, or a good sign that so many more people were contributing to campaigns and getting involved, or a combination of both?
What Geithner will be doing with the second half of the bail out money looks very promising. It will be used for home owners, municipalities, and small businesses.
January 9, 2009 9:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
I hope so.
The other thing that Geithner ought to be doing, when it comes to the banking and corporate world, is to emulate Gordon Brown and insist on three words: quid pro quo.
No bank or company gets a penny unless they accept strict conditions -- do what we tell you to do (i.e., use the money for lending, rather than sitting on it or using it to buy up competitors) and pay us a fair rate of return (e.g., the 10 percent Warren Buffett got).
January 9, 2009 9:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
TPM,
You guys are the ones who pointed out that a lot of Chris Christie's actions as NJ U.S. Attorney were questionable and appeared politically motivated!!!
Don't forget about that when covering his long-anticipated transition to electoral politics! In fact, you should redouble your muckraker efforts on him! He was there during Gonzo's reign of error and appeared up to his elbows in it.
January 9, 2009 12:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Timmy don't get Congressional authorization for that $350, I'll lend it to him. Hell, I thought this bailout thing was gonna be expensive! Sheeet, for another $200 I'll consider bailing out Canada too...
January 9, 2009 9:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Did anyone catch the latest Palin interview? She is unbelievable. I can't believe she's still re-visiting the campaign:
http://strategyforprogress.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/flabbergasted/
January 9, 2009 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
She's incredibly whiny, just like the vast majority of conservatives.
January 9, 2009 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
ugh! I watched clips of it on Countdown. She sounded so childish, especially when it came to Katie Couric. She blames everyone but herself for her loss. You know, John McCain was able to say that the loss was his fault and when Obama was asked if he lost what would be the reason, he said it would be because he failed to reach the American people.
January 9, 2009 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
What I don't understand is why is she still getting any press or attention? She is a complete and utter narcissitic fool. She thought that she would have gotten better press if she was the "democrat" party candidate for vp? That is beyond absurd and would never have happened in a million years anyway. I hope that she is the republican nominee in 2012, which is doubtful, because she will get slaughtered. Can you say landslide?
January 9, 2009 11:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah, how can we miss you if you won't go away?
January 9, 2009 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does she think that, if she had been Obama's running mate, the media coverage would have been different?
Uh, yeah. Barack's mental health would have been an issue.
January 9, 2009 9:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
OMG! She said that if she was on the dem ticket, she would have been treated much better - uhm, no! No one would want her dumb behind on the dem ticket. Didn't she notice the Dems had a lot of intelligent and well spoken candidates to chose from? Aren't Dems stereotyped as intellectual snobs? She thought she would fare better with us?
January 9, 2009 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nancy is right Bush has destroyed our country but what Nancy does not tell you is she did absolutely nothing to stop it. She is the opposition party and with her spine of mush went along with Bush every time.
January 9, 2009 10:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
I actually agree with Dubya on his biggest achievement. Everything he's touched has turned to shit, so having no impact at all is a good thing.
January 9, 2009 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. I have been trying to think of something else that he was unsuccessful in f*cking up for his glorious legacy and for the life of me I can't come up with a single thing other than his failure to give wallstreet welfare based on his bs social security "reform." Neither he nor mcbush understood the concept of social security or how it works or why it was set up. Pathetic.
January 9, 2009 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink