What You Need to Know: 01.23.09

Paterson Announces Choice of Gillibrand for Senate Seat
“Representative Kirsten E. Gillibrand, a little-known 42-year-old upstate congresswoman selected to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the United States Senate, said Friday afternoon that she would focus on passing legislation that would provide financial relief and create jobs for New Yorkers.”

Obama sees stimulus package by mid-February
“President Barack Obama said Friday he expects an $825 billion economic recovery plan to be approved by his target of mid-February and urged congressional leaders to work swiftly to pass it.

“We are experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis that has to be dealt with and dealt with rapidly,” Obama told reporters as he met with lawmakers at the White House.”

Obama Lifts Global Abortion ‘Gag Rule’
“President Barack Obama today signed an executive order lifting a ban on U.S. funding for international family planning groups that perform abortions or provide counseling about the procedure.

The order rescinds the Mexico City Policy, also known as the “gag rule,” which President Ronald Reagan originally instituted in 1984 and President Bill Clinton rescinded and President George W. Bush revived in 2001.”

$20 billion clean energy bill clears hurdle
“The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday approved $20 billion in tax credits and related financial incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency — elements that are part of the Obama administration’s plan to revive the economy.

The legislation’s energy tax breaks would benefit the wind and solar energy industries, encourage energy-efficiency improvements to existing homes and help service stations recoup their costs for installing alternative energy pumps.”

Senate Gets Reacquainted With McCain the Maverick
“A joke made its way around the Capitol yesterday: How do you know the 2008 election is really over? Because John McCain is causing trouble for Republicans again.

Two and a half months removed from his defeat in the race for the presidency, colleagues say, McCain bears more resemblance to the unpredictable and frequently bipartisan lawmaker they have served with for decades than the man who ran an often scathing campaign against Barack Obama. In some instances, he’s even carrying water for his former rival.”

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Rock the Vote Bio: Rock the Vote was founded in 1990 to organize artists and fight against censorship of musicians. Since then we've evolved to focus on empowering young people to get involved in the political process. We use pop culture, peer-to-peer organizing, and the latest technology to raise visibility of politics and demystify the process of registering to vote. @rockthevote Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com

This entry was posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 6:17 pm and is filed under what you need to know. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.