Obama And Congressional Negotiators Reach Compromise On Abuse Photos
House and Senate negotiators have approved a $106 billion compromise bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, after President Obama personally intervened on the controversy over an amendment to forbid the release of detainee abuse photos. The amendment was removed in the hope of assuaging liberal Democrats — but Obama promised to use all means at his disposal to prevent their release.
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will meet at 2:30 p.m. ET with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and at 2:50 p.m. ET with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). At 3:30 p.m. ET, he will meet with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Moran Tsvangirai, who will press Obama for international aid and try to assuage the doubts about his country’s political situation, given the uneasy power-sharing government he has with his rival, President Robert Mugabe.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden is in Michigan today with Sec. of Transportation Ray LaHood, continuing the “Road to Recovery” tour. Biden and LaHood will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the I-94 widening and Westnedge Avenue interchange reconstruction project in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They will be joined by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, and other local officials. Afterwards, Biden will return to Washington and have private meetings for the remainder of the day.
Kyl Doesn’t Rule Out Stall Tactics On Sotomayor
In an interview with Roll Call, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) did not rule out the use of stall tactics against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, amidst Republican protests that they are not being given enough time to review her record for the July 13 hearings. “As the hearing time approaches we will evaluate whether we can make that deadline,” said Kyl, explaining that Republicans could potentially meet with Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and attempt to persuade him to given them more time.
WaPo: Executives Not Too Worried About Compensation Rules
The Washington Post reports that Wall Street executives aren’t too worried about the Obama Administration’s proposed regulations on executive pay, after looking at the fine print. “Our people kind of thought it was a non-event,” said one executive at a large bank. “There’s nothing in there that’s radical. It’s not like the horrible and unethical action from Congress where they were putting artificial caps on pay or trying to steal back bonuses … I don’t think there are worries about it on Wall Street.”
Cantor Compares Obama To Putin
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) compared President Obama’s actions in the auto bailouts to Vladimir Putin. “They said, ‘Set aside the rule of law, let’s strip secured creditors, bondholders, of their rights. Take them away outside of the bankruptcy process and give them to the political cronies and the auto workers’ unions,'” said Cantor. “It’s almost like looking at Putin’s Russia,” he added. “You want to reward your political friends at the expense of the certainty of law?”
Labor Activist To Challenge Gillibrand In Primary
Labor activist Jonathan Tasini announced yesterday that he will challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in the Democratic primary. Tasini is unlikely to pose much of a threat to the appointed incumbent Senator — he previously ran against Hillary Clinton in the 2006 primary, taking only 16% of the vote.
