Congress Returns To Work With Long To-Do List
Reuters reports: “U.S. lawmakers face a lengthy to-do list, topped by a dispute over expiring tax cuts, when they return to work on Monday in a session that offers an early gauge of the chances for bipartisanship when the new Congress convenes in January. The first test of the post-election relationship between President Barack Obama and newly powerful Republican congressional leaders will come at a White House meeting on Tuesday, which is likely to focus on the tax-cut debate.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will receive the presidential daily briefing at 10 a.m. ET, and will receive the economic daily briefing at 10:30 a.m. ET. He will meet at 11 a.m. ET with senior advisers. He does not have any scheduled public events.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will swear in Sen.-elect Mark Kirk (R-IL) at the Capitol at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Hillary Clinton Hits Diplomatic Trail After Document Leak
The Associated Press reports: “Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is headed on a four-nation diplomatic tour to Central Asia and the Persian Gulf on the heels of Sunday’s unauthorized release of a trove of sensitive State Department documents chronicling the behind-the-scenes conduct of U.S. foreign relations. Clinton’s trip, announced by State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley Sunday evening, had been planned long before hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables were released by WikiLeaks, the online anti-secrecy group, and published by The New York Times and newspapers in Europe.”
American Exceptionalism: An Old Idea And A New Political Battle
The Washington Post reports: “‘American exceptionalism’ is a phrase that, until recently, was rarely heard outside the confines of think tanks, opinion journals and university history departments. But with Republicans and tea party activists accusing President Obama and the Democrats of turning the country toward socialism, the idea that the United States is inherently superior to the world’s other nations has become the battle cry from a new front in the ongoing culture wars. Lately, it seems to be on the lips of just about every Republican who is giving any thought to running for president in 2012.”
Liberal Groups To Propose Routes To Smaller Deficit
The New York Times reports: “As President Obama’s fiscal commission faces a deadline this week for agreement on a plan to shrink the mounting national debt, liberal organizations will unveil debt-reduction proposals of their own in the next two days, seeking to sway the debate in favor of fewer reductions in domestic spending, more cuts in the military and higher taxes for the wealthy.”
Influence Growing For Reid’s Top Lieutenants
Roll Call reports: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appears to be centralizing power among his top lieutenants, even though his rank-and-file Members have been clamoring for more influence over caucus operations. The Nevada Democrat has given Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer a second title by appointing the New York Democrat as chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee. And he appears poised to tap Conference Secretary Patty Murray (Wash.) to take on a second job as well — as chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee next year.”
