Lew to be nominated as OMB director
Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama said Tuesday he will nominate Jacob J. Lew, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget, to again take that post.
If confirmed, Lew would succeed Peter Orszag as head of the White House budget team.
Lew held the same position in the administration of former President Bill Clinton from 1998-2001. Most recently, he has been the deputy secretary of state for management and resources in the Obama administration.
"The experience and good judgment Jack has acquired throughout his impressive career in the public and private sector will be an extraordinary asset to this administration's efforts to cut down the deficit and put our nation back on a fiscally responsible path," Obama said in a statement. "As the budget director who left the next administration a $237 billion surplus when he worked for President Clinton, I have no doubt that Jack has proven himself equal to this extraordinary task."
Polls: Obama at all time low on economy
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/13/art.obama.0709o.gi.jpg caption ="Two new polls indicate President Obama’s approval rating on how he’s handling the economy are at an all time low."]Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama's approval rating on how he is handling the economy is at an all time low, according to two new polls.
Four in ten Americans questioned in a CBS News survey, released Tuesday morning, approve of the job the president's doing on the economy, down five points from last month, and the lowest number since Obama took over in the White House. Fifty-four percent say they disapprove how Obama's dealing with the economy. Only 35 percent of independent voters give the president a thumbs up on the economy. According to the survey, three in four think the effects of the recession will last for another two years, or more.
According to the other new poll, an ABC News/Washington Post survey, 43 percent of the public say they approve of how Obama is handling the economy, down seven points from June, with 54 percent saying they disapprove. The 43 percent figure is a new low in ABC News/Washington Post polling.
Kagan vote delayed one week
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/13/art.kagan.0630p.gi.jpg caption ="The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday delayed its vote on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan."]Washington (CNN) - The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday delayed its vote on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan for a week at the request of the panel's ranking Republican.
Such a delay is permitted under committee rules. The panel had a similar delay last year when considering the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.
Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said he hoped to hold the vote on Kagan in a week's time, on July 20.
The Judiciary Committee held four days of hearings on Kagan's nomination before Congress went on its Fourth of July recess.
Schumer statement on passing of George Steinbrenner
(CNN) - New York Sen. Charles Schumer on Tuesday released the following statement regarding the death of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner:
“Like New York and like the Yankees, George Steinbrenner was a champion. He was someone about whom you can truly say that there will never be another one like him. When he bought the Yankees in 1973 the franchise was moribund and he quickly restored them to greatness. I, along with millions of Yankees fans, am thankful for the countless hours of joy we have experienced watching his team at the Stadium or following them on television and radio. He was a true New York icon. My condolences and best wishes go out to the Steinbrenners and the entire Yankee family.”
Majority in Pennsylvania like Arizona Immigration law
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/13/art.borderpatrol.file6.gi.jpg caption ="A new poll indicates that Pennsylvanians approve of Arizona’s new immigration law by a nearly two to one margin."](CNN) - A new poll indicates that voters in Pennsylvania approve of the new controversial Arizona immigration law by a nearly two to one margin.
According to a Quinnipiac University survey released Tuesday, 52 percent of registered voters in the Keystone State approve of the measure, with 27 percent opposed.
Forty-seven percent of people questioned in the poll say they want Pennsylvania to adopt a similiar immigration law, with 34 percent opposed. Six out of ten say they think the federal government's lawsuit to block implementation of the measure is a bad idea, with 27 percent backing the Justice Department's legal action.
The survey also indicates that by a 44 percent to 39 percent margin, Pennsylvania voters do not think the Arizona law will lead to discrimination against Hispanics. The margin is just within the poll's sampling error.
Palin endorsement shakes up Georgia race
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/13/art.oxendinead.0713.youtube.jpg caption ="Georgia gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine is out with a new ad on Tuesday."](CNN) – Sarah Palin waded into the Georgia governor's race Monday and already that contest is growing more intense.
Less than a day after the former Alaska governor announced she is backing former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, a GOP opponent is out with a scathing campaign commercial that suggests Handel once supported abortion rights.
"She gave almost a half-million dollars to an abortion provider. And supported tax-payer benefits for gay couples. Sounds like a liberal Democrat. It's the Karen Handel you didn't know," says a new ad from John Oxendine, the state insurance commissioner who is considered the frontrunner in the race.
DNC dishes out first $2 million for midterms
Washington (CNN) - The Democratic National Committee is kicking off its push to get voters to the polls in November's midterm elections.
The DNC has transferred its first $2 million as part of the national party committee's $50 million Vote 2010 plan, according to a Democratic party official. The DNC's next report with the Federal Election Commission will show that the committee moved $666,666 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, $666,666 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, $333,333 to the Ohio Democratic Party and $333,333 to the Florida Democratic Party, according to the party official.
The DNC plans to dish out $20 million overall to the DSCC, DCCC and to the state parties, as the Democrats try to retain their majorities in the House, Senate, and the governorships, with $30 million in direct spending by the national party committee.
It's probably no accident that Florida and Ohio are the first two states to receive cash, as both have competitive state-wide battles for governor and senator.
"Our $50 million Vote 2010 plan is the DNC's largest and most sophisticated midterm election effort ever with the most important component for us...engaging folks who voted for the first time in 2008 and making a connection for them between their local candidates and President Obama," said the party official.
–Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
Rubio to announce new job proposals
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/13/art.rubio.0602u.gi.jpg caption ="Senate candidate Marco Rubio will announce new job proposals in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday."](CNN) - Republican Senate Candidate Marco Rubio heads to Tampa, Florida Tuesday for a town-hall event during which he will announce the first in a series of proposals to spur job creation.
In a web video released ahead of Rubio's town-hall event, the former Florida House speaker says Washington has done little to create new jobs and is in need of conservative solutions to create economic growth.
"For over a year now, I've traveled across Florida and listened as people told me not only about the challenges they are talking about at their kitchen tables and the problems they see in Washington, but also about the solutions they want," Rubio said. "Today, I will begin laying out simple ideas to start to reclaim America's future from those in Washington who are taking us down the wrong path."
Alabama voters head to polls in crucial runoffs
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/13/art.byrne.bently.2shot.web.jpg caption =" Bradley Byrne (left), a former state senator and former chancellor of Alabama’s community colleges, faces off against state Rep. Robert Bently (right) in Tuesday’s runoff election."](CNN) - It's election day in Alabama, again.
Voters head to the polls to cast ballots in runoff elections six weeks after the state's June 1 primaries.
The biggest contest is the battle for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Bradley Byrne, a former state senator and former chancellor of the state's community colleges, faces off against state Rep. Robert Bently. Byrne came in first in the primary, with Bently edging out businessman Tim James by less the 300 votes for second place.
The winner faces off in November against Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, the Democratic nominee. The race is to succeed Republican Gov. Bob Riley, who is term limited. Riley announced Friday that he would vote for Byrne.
Senators question if BP played role in Pan Am bomber's release
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/13/art.megrahi.file4.ukpool.jpg caption ="Convicted Pan Am bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi boards a plane in Scotland to make his final trip home to Libya on August 20."](CNN) - A group of U.S. lawmakers have called for an investigation into whether BP may have played a role in lobbying for the release of Abdelbaset al Megrahi to secure an oil contract with the Libyan government.
Megrahi, now 58, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which killed 270 people, including 189 Americans.
He was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds in August after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
"Reports have surfaced indicating that a 2007 oil agreement may have influenced the U.K. and Scottish governments' positions concerning Mr. Megrahi's release in 2009," wrote Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey in a letter to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Monday.
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