Tuesday primary showdowns in 3 states

(News Today) - The battle for Congress picks up steam Tuesday as three states hold primaries.

Among the most interesting contests are a Republican Senate nomination fight in Indiana and Democratic Senate primary battles in Ohio and North Carolina.

In Indiana, former Sen. Dan Coats is hoping to win back his old seat. The Republican former lawmaker, who is the establishment candidate in the race, is facing off against a number of opponents in Tuesday's primary, including former Rep. John Hostettler and state Sen. Marlin Stutzman.

Conservative Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina has endorsed Stutzman, who is also the favorite of local Tea Party groups in Indiana.

Last week, a political action committee that DeMint chairs announced it has raised more than $200,000 in campaign donations for Stutzman, who was once considered a long shot in the primary contest.

But Coats is considered the man to beat. He has endorsements from conservative lawmakers Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana and Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, as well as Chris Chocola, president of Club for Growth -- an organization that preaches fiscal conservatism -- and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson.

The big question is whether some conservatives will be less than inspired by a Coats victory.

"I think what happens on Wednesday in Indiana is more important than what happens on Tuesday," said Nathan Gonzales, political editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. "Republicans will need to unite behind a Coats candidacy in order to take back a Democratic-held Senate seat. Indiana is not a Democratic state, but Coats will need every Republican vote possible to win."

The winner of the primary will take on Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth in the general election. The race is to fill the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, who's not running for re-election this year.

It's a mirror image in Ohio, where all the action in the Senate primary is on the Democratic side.

On the eve of Ohio's primary, a new Quinnipiac University poll of likely Democratic primary voters indicated that Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher held a 20-point lead over Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in the race for their party's Senate nomination.

"Lt. Gov. Fisher started the campaign better known and raised more money to keep him better known and able to get out his message," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

The primary winner will face off in November against Republican Rob Portman, a former congressman who also served as budget director in the administration of President George W. Bush. The race is to succeed retiring Republican Sen. George Voinovich.

Over the weekend Brunner told reporters that she would not campaign for Fisher if he won the primary.

"There's been a lot of talk about divisive Republican primaries, but Ohio's a case of a divisive Democratic contest," said Gonzales. "In order to win this seat in November, Fisher can't afford to have Democratic voters standing on the sidelines."

In North Carolina, six Democratic candidates are vying for the chance to face off in November against Republican Sen. Richard Burr. Polls suggest that North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, former state Sen. Cal Cunningham, and attorney Ken Lewis are the top three contenders for the Democratic nomination.

All three states are also holding primary contests for House seats as well as for state and local lawmakers.

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Crist to run for Senate as nonaligned candidate, source says

(News Terupdate) - Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has decided to run as a nonaligned candidate rather than compete for the Republican Party nomination in his bid for the Senate, a GOP fundraiser tells CNN.

The fundraiser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Crist has begun contacting financial supporters to tell them that he is running as a non-party affiliated candidate and to ask for their continued support.

Once the overwhelming favorite in the battle for the Republican Senate nomination, Crist is now trailing former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio by more than 20 points, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this month.

But the survey offered hope Crist could win in November if he ran as an independent. In this scenario, Crist would have a slight edge over Rubio and a larger lead over Rep. Kendrick Meek, the likely Democratic nominee, in a three-way general election matchup.

Crist is expected to officially declare his intentions during an event Thursday afternoon in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida. Crist's campaign is calling it "a candidate qualifying event." Crist has until Friday to declare his intentions.

If Crist does decide to launch an independent bid, a source tells CNN that one of his main GOP consultants, Public Opinion Strategies, will leave the campaign.

Crist has signaled in recent weeks that he is pivoting away from Republican dogma and moving toward an independent bid.

On Tuesday, for instance, after doing a flyover of the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, he told reporters that he is backing off his support for offshore drilling.

Thursday's event in the voter-rich Tampa area -- which happens to be the state's biggest media market -- will take place in Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg.

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Obama to Republicans: Let Senate debate Wall Street reform

Ottumwa, Iowa (News Terupdate) - President Obama challenged Republicans to allow a debate on Wall Street reforms, telling an Iowa crowd Tuesday it's not right for the GOP to prevent a proposal from coming up in the Senate.

For the second straight day, Senate Republicans blocked a motion to begin debate on a bill that would overhaul financial regulations. The GOP senators say the proposal is too broad and needs to be tightened in closed-door talks with Democrats before coming to the Senate floor for debate.

"The American people deserve an honest debate on this bill," Obama told the crowd. "You should not have to have to wait one more day."

Obama said Senate Republicans "unanimously blocked efforts to even being debating reform."

"They won't let it [the bill] get on the floor to be debated," Obama said. "It's one thing to oppose reform, but to oppose just even talking about reform in front of the American people and having a legitimate debate? That's not right."

The proposed reforms are intended to prevent another Wall Street meltdown like the one that significantly worsened the U.S. recession, Obama said.

"We can't let another crisis like this happen again," he said. "We can't have such a short memory that we let them convince us that we don't need to change the status quo."

Senate Democrats accuse their Republican counterparts of stalling momentum on the bill in an attempt to water it down. The votes Monday and Tuesday on opening debate were intended to generate public pressure on the Republicans by raising awareness of their opposition to moving forward on the popular issue.

A third vote on launching debate on the measure was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

One moderate Republican, Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, indicated Tuesday he would switch his vote from no to yes if negotiations on the bill between Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut, and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, fail to reach agreement soon.

The American people "want us to get something done," Voinovich said in explaining why he would eventually join Democrats in insisting the bill be debated on the floor.

Voinovich wouldn't say how long he would wait before switching his vote, but added, "I have an idea of how much time it takes to cut a deal." According to Voinovich, "a whole bunch" of other Republicans are likely to make the same decision.

Dodd and Shelby have repeatedly said they were close to a deal, with agreement on most of the issues. However, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, who also has taken part in negotiations, said Tuesday he was far less optimistic that a deal would come anytime soon.

"I just know where they are, policywise, and I just don't see it," Corker said."I don't think anytime in the near future there's going to be a bipartisan agreement."

Republican leaders have identified their main concern as a Democratic plan to set up a consumer watchdog agency to protect against lending abuses such as unfair credit card charges and mortgage practices.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, contended earlier Tuesday that the consumer agency would extend far beyond Wall Street to infiltrate daily transactions of all Americans.

Shelby headed to another negotiating session with Dodd after Tuesday's vote against starting debate on the bill. Asked whether Dodd is offering any flexibility on the consumer protection provision, Shelby said no.

"They've been pretty steadfast in their view of the consumer agency," Shelby said. "We think we have some constructive recommendations."

Dodd questioned the Republicans' sincerity, saying: "They don't want a consumer protection agency at all. Let's be honest about it."

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Dems say go, GOP says not yet to finance reform debate

Washington (News Terupdate) - Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has scheduled a late afternoon vote Monday to move ahead with a Senate financial reform bill, but Republicans warn they are not prepared to launch debate on the measure.

Leading lawmakers from both parties making the rounds of Sunday political talk shows said a deal is close on a reform bill, but top-ranking Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was among those saying he didn't expect debate to proceed on Monday.

"We don't have a bipartisan compromise yet," McConnell said on "FOX News Sunday." "But I think there's a good chance that we're going to get it."

Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama told NBC's "Meet the Press" that they would continue working during the day Sunday to reach a deal on financial reform, one of President Obama's top legislative priorities.

But Shelby said, "If nothing happens between now and (Monday), the Democrats will not get" any Republican support to open debate on the measure.

Republicans have enough seats in the Senate to block the start of debate; without at least one Republican vote, debate won't be able to begin.

The House has passed its version of a financial regulation reform bill intended to prevent another Wall Street meltdown like the one in 2008 that led to the U.S. recession.

Dodd and Shelby have been negotiating a Senate bill for months, though their talks broke down when Dodd recently held a vote on the proposal by the Senate Banking Committee he chairs. The committee's Democrats approved the measure without any Republican support.

Last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee also passed a measure to tighten regulations on the complex system of trade known as derivatives.

One Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, joined Democrats on the committee in supporting the measure. Negotiations involving Dodd, Shelby and other senators now are focused on merging the two Senate proposals into a single bill.

Reid's strategy is to force Republicans to either allow debate to proceed or go on record opposing Wall Street reforms that are strongly supported by the American public.

On the NBC show, Dodd said he hoped the continuing talks with Shelby would yield an agreement to allow the debate to begin on Monday. Any further changes necessary could take place in the amendment process during debate, Dodd argued.

"This doesn't end the debate tomorrow. This begins debate," Dodd said of moving forward on the legislation in the Senate. "Tomorrow if another crisis occurs in this county, we're no better off than we were in 2008."

Shelby said the two sides were "very, very close" in concept, but still had to iron out differences over "two or three" provisions. "It's very tedious," he said, adding that a deal by Monday was doubtful.

Another top Republican negotiator, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, told ABC's "This Week" that talks are focused on the major elements that must be in the bill, which he identified as stronger regulations of derivatives, increased consumer protections and ensuring the orderly liquidation of failing companies.

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Senate negotiators say deal close, but more talks needed

Washington (News Terupdate) - A deal is close on a Senate financial reform bill, the leading negotiators said Sunday, but Republicans warned they are not yet prepared to launch debate on the measure.

Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama told NBC's "Meet the Press" that they would continue working Sunday to reach a deal on one of President Obama's top legislative priorities.

Dodd said the Senate's Democratic leadership plan is to open debate on the bill on Monday, but Shelby warned that might be too soon. Republicans have enough seats in the Senate to block the start of debate.

The Senate's top-ranking Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, told "FOX News Sunday" he also believed a deal was likely, but not as soon as Monday.

"We don't have a bipartisan compromise yet," McConnell said. "But I think there's a good chance that we're going to get it."

Asked if Republicans will allow debate on the bill to proceed Monday, McConnell said he didn't expect that to happen.

The House has passed its version of a financial regulation reform bill intended to prevent another Wall Street meltdown like the one in 2008 that led to the U.S. recession.

Dodd and Shelby have been negotiating a Senate bill for months, though their talks broke down when Dodd recently held a vote on the proposal in the Senate Banking Committee, which he chairs. The committee's Democrats approved the measure without any Republican support.

Last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee also passed a measure to tighten regulations on the complex system of trade known as derivatives. One Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, joined Democrats on the committee in supporting the measure.

Negotiations involving Dodd, Shelby and other senators now are focused on merging the two Senate proposals into a single bill.

The Senate's top Democrat, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, says he will hold a vote Monday on opening debate on the financial reform bill. Reid's strategy is to force Republicans to either allow debate to proceed or go on record opposing Wall Street reforms that are strongly supported by the American public.

On the NBC show, Dodd said he hoped the continuing talks with Shelby would yield an agreement to allow the debate to begin on Monday. Any further changes necessary could take place in the amendment process during debate, Dodd argued.

"This doesn't end the debate tomorrow. This begins debate," Dodd said of moving forward on the legislation in the Senate.

"Tomorrow if another crisis occurs in this county, we're no better off than we were in 2008."

Shelby said the two sides were "very, very close" in concept, but still had to iron out differences over "two or three" provisions.

"It's very tedious," he said, adding that a deal by Monday was doubtful.

"If nothing happens between now and tomorrow, the Democrats will not get" any Republican support to open debate on the measure, Shelby said.

Another top Republican negotiator, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, told ABC's "This Week" that talks are focused on the major elements that must be in the bill, which he identified as stronger regulation of derivatives, increased consumer protection, and ensuring the orderly liquidation of failing companies. Once agreement is reached on those concepts, the bill can proceed to debate on the Senate floor, Corker said.

Democrats, however, say they fear Republicans are extending the negotiations to try to undermine the bill at the behest of Wall Street backers.

"Some Wall Street people have said the longer they can delay this, the more chance they can kill it," Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said on the ABC program.

"If the negotiators are going to come forward more as a delaying tactic, and [they are] just going to put in hundreds of amendments and try to keep this going so as to stall, delay and kill reform, that's not going to happen," added Austan Goolsbee, chief economist for Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, on the same program.

The Senate bills would tighten regulations on how Wall Street banks and firms function, with new requirements on how much capital they must maintain to protect against losses. The two proposals both seek to create a regulatory framework for derivatives, which are speculative investments on future outcomes intended to offset potential losses.

In addition, the legislation would create a consumer protection body intended to prevent unfair practices by banks and credit card companies.

Goolsbee and Lawrence Summers, the director of the White House's National Economic Council, stressed that the Obama administration wants the same things from Wall Street reforms as called for by Republicans.

Financiers have to assume greater risk in creating investment products, Goolsbee said, adding that "the people who originate the securities have to maintain some ownership so that if they pack it full of things that are going to fail, they themselves are going to lose money when they do it."

"If you look at the things the experts have cited as causes [of the Wall Street meltdown] ... they are all addressed by this bill," Summers said on the CBS program "Face the Nation."

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Dems on financial reform bill: 'The games are over'

Washington (News Terupdate) - Senate Democrats called out Republicans on Thursday for what they said was the promotion of "falsehoods" on the financial reform bill and vowed to move the bill forward.

Republican leadership has "decided the best way to stop it ... is by polluting the debate with myths and mischaracterizations," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at a news conference after President Obama's speech on financial reform in New York.

"I'm not going to waste any more time. ... If they let us go to it, we'll be happy to start debate," Reid said. "The games are over."

The Senate's financial reform bill would set up new regulatory oversight of the financial industry's practices with the goal of preventing another Wall Street meltdown like the one in 2008 that launched the U.S. recession.

Approved by the Senate's Banking and Agricultural committees, the bill includes an "early warning" system intended to spot signs of another crisis, as well as a $50 billion liquidation fund created with money from banks and other finance industry corporations to ensure an orderly transition in closing down failing entities.

On Thursday, Reid filed a motion to end debate on the bill, setting up that vote for Monday. The expected outcome of the vote is too close to call.

Reid said Democrats are willing to work with Republicans if they are earnest about pushing the bill forward.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell shot back at Reid's claims, saying on the Senate floor, "here we go again."

"The majority leader is once again moving to a bill, even while bipartisan discussions on the content of the bill are still under way," he said, referring to the health care bill that was recently signed into law.

The Kentucky Republican criticized Democrats and the White House for "ramming" health care reform down Americans' throats.

He said it's important to take the time to get the bill right and said discussions should continue.

"Now, I think Americans expect more of us. I think they expect us to take the time to do it right."

But Democrats say the lesson they learned from the health care debate was to push back immediately against false claims.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Democrats let too many health care reform "lies" go unchallenged.

"On the health care bill, we allow too many lies to get out there without rebuttal because we thought they were so obviously untrue. But we've learned our lesson," he said.

His solution: "The minute these things come out the mouths of some of our Republican colleagues, we rebut them, and we rebut them again and again."

Democrats are pushing to get a reform package approved this year. The Senate is debating the motion to proceed to the financial regulations bill, but Democrats need at least one Republican vote to get it to the floor.

Democrats believe that a handful of Republicans are in play, but none has announced their intention to vote to end debate.

The House passed its version of the bill in December.

In the meantime, Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, and Chris Dodd, chairman of the Banking Committee, say they will continue negotiations over their differences in the bill.

They do so as Democratic leaders warn that the talks may be nothing more than a stalling tactic by Republicans furious that their rivals are rushing the bill to the floor just as bipartisan talks are showing signs of life.

At one point during Reid's news conference Thursday, a video was played, highlighting what Democrats see as GOP misinformation.

In the video, McConnell said the bill "allows for tax-funded bailout for Wall Street banks. It institutionalizes them. ... It provides for an endless taxpayer bailout of Wall Street banks."

Sen. Dick Durbin, the second highest-ranking Senate Democrat, denied that there is any bailout provision in the Senate's bill.

"The taxpayers don't pay for any part of this, and at the end of it, the company is gone," he said. "There's nothing to bail out."

House Minority Leader John Boehner, in responding to Obama's speech, continued to insist that the bill is a bailout.

"While the president says he wants to reform Wall Street, the bill we have in front of us will actually provide permanent bailouts for Wall Streets and enshrine 'too big to fail,' " he said.

A video of Sen. Jon Kyl was also played in which the Arizona Republican talked about how consumer protection parts of the bill would regulate dentists and even butchers.

"Once again, not true," Schumer said. "The new Consumer Protection Agency will make sure that consumers are getting financial products ... and services that will help them save money or buy a home."

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Blagojevich defense team seeks to subpoena Obama

Chicago, Illinois (News Terupdate) - Lawyers for Rod Blagojevich filed a motion Thursday seeking to subpoena President Obama to testify in the corruption case against the former Illinois governor.

The 10-page motion contends that Obama must have information in the case because the charges against Blagojevich involve alleged deal-making to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Obama when he became president.

"The defense understands that the President of the United States of America is not a routine witness and would not request his appearance if it did not think he was critical to the liberty of Rod Blagojevich," the motion says.

According to the motion, Obama's public assertion that he had no involvement in talks about filling his Senate seat contradicts information from another witness in the case.

In addition, the motion says that Tony Rezko, a political fundraiser convicted of fraud charges who has links to Obama, is a government witness in the case and that Obama can offer testimony about him.

Blagojevich, who faces racketeering charges, held a defiant news conference this week in which he called his accusers "liars" and "cowards" and directly challenged U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who is heading the prosecution. Blagojevich accused federal authorities of trying to keep some of the tapes FBI agents made of his phone conversations from being heard by a jury.

U.S. District Court Judge James Zagal said Wednesday that he would decide which of more than 500 hours of tapes would be played for the jury. At a preliminary hearing, Zagal gave the defense until May 14 to tell the court which tapes it wants played, warning, "I will not have the time of these jurors needlessly consumed."

During his news conference Tuesday, Blagojevich repeated that he was innocent and that the tapes of his conversations would prove it.

"It is because there is a smoking gun in those tapes, and the smoking gun is that the government is covering up the big lie Mr. Fitzgerald gave to the world when he had me arrested," Blagojevich said.

Authorities have said that Blagojevich and his inner circle engaged in a near-constant conspiracy of extortion and kickbacks after his 2002 election. The accusations also contend that tens of thousands of dollars in unearned commissions and unnecessary retainer fees were diverted to Blagojevich's wife after he and his co-conspirators learned that they were being investigated.

Blagojevich, a two-term Democrat, resigned in January 2009 amid accusations that he had attempted to sell the U.S. Senate seat that had been occupied by Obama. The former governor was arrested the month before on federal corruption charges that included wire fraud, mail fraud and solicitation of bribery.

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Senate panel approves Wall Street reform bill

Washington (News Terupdate) - A Senate committee on Wednesday passed a proposal aimed at helping protect the economy from future meltdowns and taxpayers from more Wall Street bailouts.

The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 13-8 in favor of the bill, which would impose regulations on the complex system of Wall Street trades known as derivatives.

Senate leaders now will look at merging the measure with a financial regulations reform bill already passed by the Senate Banking Committee that is headed for debate by the full chamber.

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa was the lone Republican to vote with Democrats on the agriculture panel for the bill.

While Wednesday's hearing was but one step in the legislative process, it could provide part of the framework for a congressional deal on financial reform legislation -- a major priority of the Obama administration.

Republican senators who last week expressed unanimous opposition to the Banking Committee's bill now, after continued negotiations, say a compromise is possible.

"Both sides have expressed a willingness to make the changes needed to ensure without any doubt that this bill won't put taxpayers on the hook for future bailouts of Wall Street banks," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said Tuesday. "I'm heartened to hear that bipartisan talks have resumed in earnest."

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Arkansas, the Agriculture Committee's chair, opened the hearing by saying the legislation would confront "tough problems" in trying to increase regulation of Wall Street trading.

Lincoln, who is expected to face a tough re-election campaign this year, called the proposal "a robust package that balances the needs of strong, meaningful reform and recognizes the needs of these markets."

"This bill will bring 100 percent transparency to a currently unregulated, dark market," she said.

The Agriculture Committee oversees the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission, which has been in charge of derivatives for decades because they originated with farm commodities.

Watch how derivatives work

The House has passed its version of a finance reform bill, and now Democrats seek to bring a Senate version up for chamber debate.

The bill approved by Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee would set up new regulatory oversight of financial industry practices with the goal of preventing another Wall Street meltdown such as the one in 2008 that launched the U.S. recession.

It includes an "early warning" system intended to spot signs of another crisis as well as a $50 billion liquidation fund created with money from banks and other financial industry corporations to ensure an orderly process of closing down failing entities.

Source : CNN

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