TPMDC Morning Roundup
Mitchell: Obama Administration Committed To Palestinian State
George Mitchell, the White House Special Envoy on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, said today after meeting with Palestinian officials that Washington is committed to the creation of a Palestinian state, saying that Obama considered it "the only viable resolution to this conflict...for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states." He also said the Administration will be seeking "prompt resumption and early conclusion" of peace talks.
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will have lunch with Vice President Biden at 12 p.m. ET. At 4 p.m. ET, Obama will meet with Sec. of the Treasury Tim Geithner. At 4:45 p.m. ET, Obama and Biden will meet with with Sec. of State Hillary Clinton.
Biden's Day Ahead
Vice President Biden is having breakfast at the Naval Observatory today with Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke. He will have lunch with President Obama at 12 p.m. ET. In the afternoon, he will host conference calls with mayors and governors from across the country to discuss stimulus implementation. Afterwards, he will rejoin President Obama to meet with Sec. of State Hillary Clinton at 4:45 p.m. ET.
Sotomayor Meeting More Senators Today
Sonia Sotomayor will be on Capitol Hill today, meeting with the following Senators: Sherrod Brown (D-OH); Sam Brownback (R-KS); Kent Conrad (D-ND); Russ Feingold (D-WI); John Kerry (D-MA); Carl Levin (D-MI); Joe Lieberman (ID-CT); Blanche Lincoln (D-AR); and Jim Webb (D-VA).
White House To Seek New Executive Pay Regulations
The Obama Administration reportedly plans to roll out new regulations on executive pay for Wall Street, possibly as soon as today. Sec. of the Treasury Tim Geithner will be meeting today to discuss new policies with SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro, Federal Reserve Governor Dan Tarullo and executive pay experts
GOP Sen. Thune: Sotomayor Vote Might Not Happen Until September
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) told CNN Radio yesterday that he thinks a vote on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court might not occur until September. "I don't think there is any rush, only because the new court doesn't open until October," said Thune, a further sign that Republicans could try to delay the process.
D.C. Vote Bill Indefinitely Postponed
Roll Call reports that D.C. voting rights advocates have indefinitely postponed a bill to grant the district a full vote in the House of Representatives, due to an inability to strip out an amendment to overrule the city's gun laws. "As a result of there not being a consensus, I don't think we're going to be able to move the bill at this point," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
About the only decent thing W ever did was to be the first president to publicly say that there should be a Palestinian state.
Now, I have my doubts about whether he knew what he was doing when he made the comment. IIRC he seemed a little taken aback about the clamor over the statement. But be that as it may he did it and it is the only way forward.
June 10, 2009 10:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thune has no power to stop anything.
June 10, 2009 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's what I was trying to figure out--why do the Republicans still think they are setting the agenda?
June 10, 2009 10:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/10/limbaugh-gingrich-cheney_n_213675.html
How can they set the agenda without a leader?
Where in the world is Steele?
June 10, 2009 12:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
They are just setting the stage to whine about the Democrats rushing her through without a deliberate hearing process.
Total bullshit, of course, but, hey, it's Repugs.
June 10, 2009 10:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
And didn't Thune beat Daschle mostly by carrying on about "obstructionism" and the "judicial crisis" facing the country because 5 (FIVE!) federal judicial nominees were being blocked?
June 10, 2009 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think BiBi is in shock. He came in with a lot of bluster and made the mistake of thinking Obama was a pushover and that he could play Congress against the president like he did in the 90s. Wrong.
Now, he's the one scrambling to save his government. I think he'll try to bring Zippi Livni into his government as a way to back down from his unsustainable right-wing palaver.
In the end, I think it's a good thing he was elected. He's such a right wing ass that there will be few objections when Obama puts the screws to him.
June 10, 2009 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
"GOP Sen. Thune: Sotomayor Vote Might Not Happen Until September..."
I'm sorry...I'm just an ignorant moron (sic), but since when did the minority party get to say when hearings could begin?
After eight years of republican railroading, are they jonesing on power? Fuck 'em, and the horses they rode in on. If they don't want to attend the hearings, great. The less blather, the better.
This is crap on a galactic scale.
June 10, 2009 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Go gentle on the poor Republicans; they are still in the throes of the five stages of grief over the death of their party. Denial is the first stage.
June 10, 2009 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
And it's a long way to get to acceptance!
June 10, 2009 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
but since when did the minority party get to say when hearings could begin?
When the Republicans are in minority.
The default position for major media outlets appears to be "Republicans deserve to do whatever they want". Hence, the sense that Republicans have clout.
And since the media seem to think they do, they do, in fact, have more clout than if they were rightly held up to ridicule.
June 10, 2009 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was thinking about the same thing this morning. I can't even remember what the story was; but it was about some democratic sponsored piece of legislation. NPR reported the facts of what the legislation proposed to do and then the Republican criticism of it; they didn't even bother to talk about the possible positives of the legislation from the democratic point of view.
June 10, 2009 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
the possible positives of the legislation from the democratic point of view.
Infuriating, isn't it?
When Republicans controlled the the White House and both chambers of Congress, the explanation (implicit) for Republican dominance in appearances in the media was that they controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress. Now? Now that the Republicans control nothing? The explanation (implicit) would be that opposing viewpoints need to be aired.
IOKIYAR. Or at least that's how many in the MSM appear to think.
June 10, 2009 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait to start the hearings until September, gum it up into October so that she doesn't get to participate and the GOP gets to change the balance from 5-4 to 5-3 for the next SCOTUS session.
Time to get the steamroller. It's the only thing they understand.
June 10, 2009 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
jeffgee, I believe you're right. The 'pugs think they're going to play this to their advantage. And they will, unless they get rolled.
Fortunately, it's Leahy who's in charge on this one, not some blue-dog toady. I don't think he'll take kindly to the obstructionism he heard Republicans whining about avoiding back when they held all the gavels.
June 10, 2009 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
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October 27, 2009 4:41 AM | Reply | Permalink