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Obama Rolling Out Restructuring of Auto Industry — And Boardrooms
President Obama is set to roll out his new terms for aiding the auto industry, with some big changes already in the works — most notably, the administration has demanded and received the resignation of General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner. The government is also calling for Chrysler to partner with Italian automaker Fiat, and for GM to come up with a new business plan, after the government has rejected the proposals from both companies.

Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will be speaking at 11 a.m. from the Grand Foyer of the White House, delivering remarks on the new plan for the auto industry. At 12:15 p.m. ET he will meet with Robert Gates. At 3 p.m. he will sign the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, and at 5:30 p.m. ET he will meet with the House Democratic Caucus.

Biden’s Day Ahead: Diplomacy In Costa Rica
Joe Biden is in Costa Rica today, where he will meet with President Oscar Arias. He will then participate in a multilateral meeting with Central American leaders, hosted by Arias. He and Jill Biden will then return to Washington tonight.

Granholm: Wagoner A “Sacrificial Lamb”
Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) this morning defended Richard Wagoner, saying he was a “sacrificial lamb.” who stepped down for the good of the company. Granholm said Wagoner has worked for the company for 30 years, and was trying to turn it around.

Germany’s Merkel Skeptical Of More Stimulus
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the New York Times that she is skeptical of President Obama’s calls for increased stimulus spending worldwide. “On an international level, we must all recognize that after the crisis we need to return again to solid financial policies,” said Merkel. “Otherwise, we run the risk of already preparing the next crisis.”

K Street Doing Well Despite Bad Economy — Or Because Of It
The Washington Post reports that lobbying firms are seeing their business pick up in the bad economy, as clients seek to keep track of the provisions of new proposals and to get their portion of the stimulus plan.”On the legal side of things, we’ve done our share of downsizing because of the economy, because of reduced demand,” said Rich Gold, chief lobbyist at Holland & Knight. “But on the policy side…we’re picking up a couple clients a week at this point.”

Americans United Hits GOP “Budget”
Americans United For Change has this new TV ad attacking the Republican budget proposal — specifically, for not having any numbers that one might expect from an actual budget:

“Tell the Republicans that Americans won’t take no for an answer,” the announcer says, proceeding to hearken back to the recent attacks surrounding Rush Limbaugh: “Tell them we want our President – and America – to succeed.”

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