Hillary: U.S. Opposes Israeli Settlements
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting today with several Arab foreign ministers, in an effort to restart peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. Clinton reiterated the administration’s opposition to continued Israeli settlements: “Successive American administrations of both parties have opposed Israel’s settlement policy. That is absolutely a fact, and the Obama administration’s position on settlements is clear, unequivocal and it has not changed.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will have his daily briefing at 10 a.m. Et. He will meet at 11:10 a.m. ET with the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. He will meet at 2 p.m. ET with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. He will meet at 3 p.m. ET with senior advisers.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will hold a 10 a.m. ET rally in Watertown, New York, for NY-23 Democratic candidate Bill Owens. Later, he will attend fundraising events in New York City for Reps. Michael McMahon (D-NY) and Scott Murphy (D-NY). At 8:30 p.m. Et, he will deliver remarks in New York City for the Women’s Campaign International organization. He will return to Washington in the evening.
Conservative Activists Taking Aim At Other Races Beyond NY-23
The Politico reports that right-wing activists plan to keep challenging moderate Republicans in key races, such as the Florida Senate primary, in the wake of their success in pushing Dede Scozzafava out of the NY-23 election. “There are going to be other conflicts,” said FreedomWorks spokesman Adam Brandon. “We have a lot of work to do. The [Doug] Hoffman campaign was the beginning. It was not the climax.”
GOP Plots Strategy To Draw Out Health Debate
Roll Call reports that Senate Republicans plan to use procedural motions to slow down debate on the health care bill for at least four weeks, and to force Democrats to make difficult votes: “The theme here is ‘obvious,’ said a GOP operative who works downtown. ‘Elect more Republicans and we can repeal the bad parts of health reform before they go into effect in 2013.'”
Climate Bill Faces Hurdle In Senate
The Washington Post says that the climate-change bill faces difficulties in the Senate, but could find a potential compromise by combining the cap-and-trade provisions with increased nuclear power plants: “There is nowhere near 60 votes for a nuclear power bill on its own. There’s not 60 votes for a cap-and-trade bill as it’s currently constructed,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who said combining them would be the only way to pass either one.
Romney: Stimulus Has Failed — Economy Is Recovering For Other Reasons
Mitt Romney declared today that the Obama stimulus plan has failed — and that the economy has recovered because of unrelated causes in the private sector. Romney said: “the stimulus that the president and the Congress passed is not what’s helped the economy.”
