Welcome to the 1600 daily briefing!
If you are reading this, you are participating in our first ever daily post! On behalf of all of us on the 6pm show, "thank you."
To receive this daily briefing via e-mail... http://www.shuster.msnbc.com.
Tonight's show is going to be an intriguing one. President elect Barack Obama spent much of this day on capitol hill, meeting with congressional leaders and talking about the 800 billion dollar economic stimulus package he wants. Some republicans are already threatening to put the brakes on that spending. So, we are keeping a close watch on Obama's meeting late today with GOP leaders. We will show you the tone that emerges. From my experience, it is usually a great clue as to whether a proposal is going to move forward in the way a president (or President elect) wants.
The Obama team went into this day with a sweetener for Republicans -- a big plan to cut taxes.
We will talk with the reporter on that story about the deal making and horse trading that has lready begun.
Also tonight, the Obama team now has a hole in their cabinet. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration for commerce secretary and had a news conference to talk about it this afternoon. We will show you the highlights. Is this much of a distraction for Obama? I have been telling colleagues, "not in the least." None the less, we will talk about it. The Washington Post called Richardson "the first political casualty in Obama's cabinet," and the "first visible crack in what had been one of the smoothest presidential transitions in modern history."
The big foreign policy news continues to come from the middle east. Israeli troops have now encircled Gaza city in the war against the Hamas terror organization. We will have the latest on the fighting and bring you an interesting political debate that has developed here in Washington -- whether the Israeli action is good or bad for the new Obama administration.
Meanwhile, there was a remarkable moment in the U.S. Capitol building today when representatives of Roland Burris tried to present his credentials to be a U.S. senator from Illinois.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid initially said that any pick by Illinois Governor Blagojevich would be rejected, even this one. That brings us to our "muckraker of the day." It's a new feature where we will take a closer look each night at a journalist, columnist, pundit, or blogger who is ahead of the curve in applying some heat or light to a particular story. If you have read some of the progressive blogs or the huffingtonpost over the last few days, you may already be familiar with some of the work of our "muckraker of the day." I think you will also appreciate watching her live on our program.
Also this was the first day of school in D.C. for Sasha and Malia Obama. The pictures of them and their parents from this morning are really cute, aren't they?
We will chat with a former secret service agent about how the agency tries to balance "security" with the desire to give presidential kids a "normal life."
And speaking of normal, any of you who golf on occasion will relate to Barack Obama's imperfect golf swing. The golfing magazines have weighed in... we will compare and contrast the Obama approach with that of his presidential predecessors.
Also, how about the ice storm headed to the mid-Atlantic region tomorrow? Sheesh. Be careful if you live in the D.C. area. This one looks like it could be nasty.
By the way, did you know that some types of de-icing salt can be bad for the environment and could pose a danger for your pets?
Finally, on this the first daily briefing for our show, our "quote of the day" was written by Thomas Jefferson, a principal author of the declaration of independence and the 3rd President of the United States.
"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."
To receive this daily briefing via e-mail... please go to http://www.shuster.msnbc.com.
Thanks for watching 1600 Pennsylvania avenue, "live" at 6pm in Washington, D.C., 5pm in Chicago, 4pm in Denver, and 3pm in Los Angeles.
See you tonight!
Shuster
PS Do you have any story suggestions, questions, feedback, or ideas? We can't wait to hear them... please e-mail us at Shuster@msnbc.com.