Congress to bailout Wall Street

The Congressional leaders are meeting this weekend to hash out an agreement that will save the US economy and global economy from collapse. Financial ananlysts say that if the deal is not reached soon there could be very serious consequences. While the public is not liking a multibillion dollar bailout of Wall Street. Most believe that this is the only way to curtail a fiscal crisis since the Great Depression. The importance of this is to save Main street, keep jobs and credit flowing throughout the economy. Banks are holding on to bad debt that keeps them from lending to businesses and consumers. The government would buy this bad debt until the real estate market turns around in few years and turn a small profit. There is also a concern is that foreign investors may pull out of the US if they do not believe that the economy will turn around soon.

Russia sends planes to Venezuela

In the latest round of political and diplomatic sparing the US and Russia may be involved in round 2. Round 2 you say, yes, that is round of 2 of the infamous cold war. The first showdown was in the Republic of Georgia and recently has gotten involved Venezuela. The United States and Venezuela have sent their respective diplomats home in protest of their countries recent positions. Furtherin the strained relationship is Russia's decision to send military planes to Venezuela.

Ike makes landfall on Texas gulf coast

Hurricane Ike has made landfall on the Texas gulf coast. Residents of Galveston were urged to evacuate and Houston were advised to stay.

Candidates Remember 9/11

In a moment of bipartisanship during a presidential campaign Senators Barack Obama and John McCain joined together to remember the victims of 9/11. Both candidates set a side this time because they said this is about being Americans first.

Hurricane Ike to bear down on Gulf Coast

Obama vs McCain

Senator John McCain has been the presumptive republican nominee for quite sometime but Senator Obama is likely the democratic nominee at this point. The math just doesnt work for Hillary and it would be impossible for her to win the nomination barring a major catastrophe by the Obama campaign. Although Obama has waged a much better campaign than Hillary. Obama has surpassed Hillary in virtually every area number of delegates, popular vote and super delegates. The question will be when will Hillary exit the stage. Will she go out willingly and gracefully or be forced off the stage.

Clinton, Obama continue tussle

Senators Clinton and Obama continue on the campaign trail as both try to gain the endorsement of the Democratic party. Currently Obama has a slight lead in the popular vote and delegate count. Pennsylvania is the next biggest state where Clinton currently has the lead. Some democratic insiders are privately concerned about the consequences of not having a nominee going into the national convention in Denver. While the democrats slugg it out republican nominee Senator John McCain continue his campaign to reintroduce himself to America and to convince republicans that he is truly a conservative candidate.

Wisconsin primary expected to be close for Dems.

Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are locked in battle for delegates in Wisconsin as both try to gain momentum to be the standard bearer for the democratic party. Both candidates are close in delegate count but Obama has won the last eight states giving him a significant momentum advantage. Hillary's firewall is expected to be on March 4th with delegate rich Ohio and Texas.
Senator John McCain is expected to lock up the nomination soon as he is coming close to the 1191 delegates needed for the republican endorsement. Former President George Bush endorsed McCain in Texas signaling that party leaders are ready to wrap this thing up. While Huckabee remains in the race he is scene as a long shot and would be statistically difficult to overcome McCains lead.

Castro resigns

After serving nearly 50 years as Cuba's leader Castro announced he will not accept another term as the leader of Cuba. His brother Raoul is expected to fill the vacancy. Castro has not been seen publicly for quite sometime.

Obama and McCain likely nominees

Senator Barack Obama and John McCain are likely to be their respective party nominees come this fall. Although the race for democrats is much tighter than the republicans. Huckabee is hopelessly falling further behind in the delegate count, momentum and endorsements by key GOP officials. A McCain rival former presidential candidate Mitt Romney also endorsed McCain. There could be a battle for delegates and super delegates as the race for the democratic primary remains close. Obama however continues to build momentum while Hillary faulters.

Congress passes stimulus package

In a rare moment of bipartisanship the House and Senate passed a stimulus package in hopes of staving off or slowing down a recession. Some were concerned that the Senate would add more items to the bill to which Treasury Secretary Paulson was concerned that the bill would get too big and unpassable. Bush had warned congress earlier that he wanted a clean bill to sign. Checks are expected to begin in early May and will be based on the 2007 tax return.

Candidates gear up for Super Tuesday

With no clear front runners political experts believe that Super Tuesday will be very important for the candidates vying for their parties nomination. Candidates will be forced to decide which states they will hit as 22 states will be up for grabs. States have pushed up their primary or caucus dates in order to have more influence in the process. Some state parties have been penalized and delagate counts when violating the national parties directives.

Congress Bush to head off possible recession

With the stockmarket in freefall this week and the Federal Reserve Board cutting interest rates this week Congress got into the act as well by offering tax rebates and business incentives to stave off a possible recession. Many world markets fell in after hours trading as a result of the troubling US real estate market which has been in decline due to major losses in the subprime market. A shrinking US dollar has not helped the situation. These efforts are designed to instill confidence to the world that the US market is stable. World markets quickly recovered when the Federal Reserve announced an emergency rate cut of 3/4 basis points. The Federal Reserve is also expected to cut interest rates even lower at its next regular meeting.

NTSB determines gussets were cause of bridge collapse

The NTSB determined yesterday that gussets were the primary cause of the 35W bridge collapse in its preliminary report. They said that there was a flaw in the orginally design such that a inspection would not have discovered the problem. Gov. Pawlenty's office asked for the public and legislative leaders to withold judgement enlight of the news until the full report is released. He also ordered new bridge inspections as well based on the preliminary.

Korean National Assembly authorizes probe into Samsung Group

The Korean National Assembly has approved a bill that would investigate Samsung Group for corruption and bribery. It also sets up an independent counsel to investigate the group. President Roh had threatened to veto the bill. The National Assembly is reportedly likely to have enough votes to override a presidential veto. The probe comes amidst a presidential election which is scheduled to be held on Dec. 19th. The investigation would not be done until after the election.

Australian PM defeated

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard was defeated in recent parliamentiary elections. Howard was a staunch ally with the US under the Bush Administration. He clearly and passionately believed that going after the terrorists in Iraq was the appropriate way to defeat terrorism as a global strategy. The US may have lost Australia as an ally but gained the support of France and Germany who after recent elections are supporters of the US and Bush Administration. Australia announced that it plans to pull out of Iraq.

Emergency Director fired

The MNDOT Emergency Director was formally fired after failing to effectively manage a crisis situation. The director was on the east coast when the 35W Bridge collapse took place. The director failed to return to MN to manage one of the biggest crisis in the history of MN. She was also under investigation prior to the bridge collapse. She was also accused of using her business cellphone for personal use.

Pakistan continues under Emergency Rule

Pakistani president Musharraf promised to hold parliamentary elections in a few months after being pressed by Secretary of State Rice and Pres. Bush. The White House and the State Department is currently reviewing its foreign aid package to Pakistan. Pakistan is currently receiving reimbursements from the US government to fight the War on Terror. Bush wants Musharraf to resign his position as the head of the Army. Musharraf fired most of the supreme court justices including the chief justice when a report from the court was expected to rule the recent election invalid. Pakistan is also currently a nuclear power.

Pakistani President declares Marshal law

President Mushareff declared Marshall law after the he learned that the recent election that he won would be ruled unconstitutional. He also replaced the Chief Justice. US Secretary of State Rice strongly condemned the move stating that this was a strategy that would backfire. The White House also condemned the move. Pakistan is the chief ally for the United States on the War on Terror. It is believed that Bin Laden is hiding out between the Afghan and Pakistani border.

Pawlenty threatens to derail steel plant deal

Governor Pawlenty announced in a surprise statement that he may halt the billion dollar steel plant after learning that the same company may build an oil plant in Iran. India based SR Global denied that it had plans to build a plant in Iran. The steel plant could have hundreds of jobs. The announcement came on the heels of a recent trip to India to increase Minnesota's trade presence in India and China. Pawlenty said that he would not allow a company that does business with Iran which is a known state sponsor of terror to do business in MN.