G-20 Leaders Reaching Outlines Of Agreement On IMF, Regulations
The G-20 leaders have reportedly agreed to give more than $500 billion to the IMF, in order to help governments struggling because of the financial crisis, along with stronger financial regulations to avoid another crisis in the future, though details remain to be hammered out. “I’m not saying that everything is sewn up. It isn’t,” said UK Business Minister Peter Mandelson. “I mean there are arguments, or some tensions over precisely what resources we’re talking about.”
Obama’s Day Ahead: The G-20 Summit In London
President Obama met with South Korean leaders in London at 3 a.m. ET this morning. At 3:30 a.m. ET, he attended the G-20 leaders breakfast. At 4:50 a.m. ET, he attended the G-20 summit’s opening plenary session. At 8:25 a.m. ET he attended the G-20 leaders lunch. At 9:30 a.m. ET he will attend the afternoon plenary session. At 10:35 a.m. ET he will meet with leaders of Saudi Arabia, and at 11:30 a.m. ET he will meet with leaders of India. At 12:45 p.m. ET, he will hold a news conference.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will be hosting two conference calls today, one with a group of governors and the other with a group of mayors, to discuss stimulus implementation. This evening, he will speak at the 21st Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner in Washington.
Obama, South Korea Agree On “Stern, United Response” To North Korea
Following President Obama’s meeting today with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, the South Korean presidential office announced that the two agreed on the need “for a stern, united response from the international community” against North Korea’s planned rocket launch.
House Passes Second Version Of Bonus Bill
The House of Representatives last night passed a new bill to crack down on bonuses at bailed-out institutions, a second try after the 90% bonus tax appears to have stalled in the Senate. The new bill, passed almost entirely along party lines, would allow bonuses to continue if the Treasury Department and regulators determine that they are not “unreasonable or excessive.”
Rove Warns About Obama’s “Chicago Politics,” Training In Alinsky Methods
In his new Wall St. Journal column, Karl Rove sounds the alarm at the Obama administration and liberal groups’ efforts to pressure members of Congress to back his agenda. “Members of Congress should also worry about how Mr. Obama is ‘keeping score,'” Rove writes. “He is steeped in the ways of Chicago politics and has not forgotten his training in the methods once used by Saul Alinsky, the radical Chicago community organizer.”
NYT: Obama Health Care Critic Brings Big Wallet — And Checkered Past
The New York Times reports that conservative critics of Obama’s health care policies may get more than they bargained for in Rick Scott, the health care exec who has already launched a series of ads opposing Obama. The issue here is that Scott’s company paid fines in the 1990s in a massive health fraud scandal, involving overbilling of state and federal health programs, and he was forced out of the company. Said health reform advocate Richard J. Kirsch: “He’s a great symbol from our point of view.”
