House To Vote On Jobless Benefits
The House is set to vote today to extend unemployment benefits, after the Senate gave its approval Wednesday night. The Senate’s vote came after months of gridlock in attaining the necessary 60-vote supermajority to break a Republican filibuster, and the legislation is expected to be quickly signed by President Obama after final passage by the House.
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET, will receive the economic daily briefing at 10 a.m. ET, and will meet at 10:45 a.m. ET with senior advisers. At 11:25 a.m. ET, he will deliver remarks and sign the receives the Presidential Daily Briefing. He will meet at 1:30 p.m. ET with Gen. Ray Odierno and Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill. He will meet at 3 p.m. ET with Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will travel in the morning to Theodore, Alabama, to assess efforts to counter the BP oil spill. He will tour the Theodore Staging Facility with National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, and afterwards he will meet with fishermen and small business owners form the area, and he will deliver a statement to the press at 2 p.m. ET. He will then travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he will attend a 5 p.m. ET reception for the Democratic National Committee, and another event for the DNC at 6:15 p.m. ET. In the evening, he will travel to Columbia, South Carolina.
Obama Faces New Doubts On Pursuing Afghan War
The New York Times looks at the political pitfalls that President Obama faces from the Afghanistan war: “The absence of serious progress this year has sown new doubts, here and abroad, that Mr. Obama will be able to reach even the scaled-down goals he set for America’s mission in the time he laid out in his speech at West Point seven months ago. The result is that the fierce debate over whether the war is worth the cost — a debate that Mr. Obama did not want to join until the Taliban suffered some losses — is unwinding one summer earlier than he had hoped.”
Chamber Of Commerce Losing Battles Against Obama
The Washington Post reports on the political battles between the Obama administration and the Chamber of Commerce — fights that the Chamber has been losing: “While the Chamber historically has favored Republicans, it also has sought accommodation with Democrats in the past. But the group’s relationship with the Obama administration has been increasingly tense. The Chamber’s president and chief executive, Thomas J. Donohue, has railed against many of the administration’s economic policies, and the group has nearly doubled its lobbying and political budget since 2008. Deputy White House communications director Jen Psaki said the Obama administration still hopes to work with the group on matters on which they agree. But she added: ‘It is no secret that the primary focus of the Chamber of Commerce is raising money for Republican candidates.'”
Tea Party Caucus Is Made of Republican Study Committee Members
Roll Call reports that the new House Tea Party Caucus bears a striking resemblance to an already-existing GOP group: “But this is not the first time these Members have joined a group dedicated to these principles. In fact, each member of the Tea Party Caucus is also part of the Republican Study Committee and several other task forces and caucuses focused on limited government. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who created the caucus last week, acknowledged that there is some overlap with other groups, but the Minnesota Republican said her caucus will focus more on bringing average people into its meetings rather than fostering Member-to-Member conversations.”
Report: Dems Reserve Airtime Ahead Of Election
The Hill reports: “The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has reserved airtime for the final two weeks before the election in key congressional districts across the country. It has banked more than $5.2 million worth of airtime in 50 television markets, according to a Republican consultant who tracks Democratic ad purchases…’They’re reserving time where they know they need to be,’ the Republican ad buyer told The Hill.”
