There’s a cold wind blowing in Washington on Tuesday morning, one day after a late-winter storm dumped up to a foot of snow on the region. DC residents anticipate a thaw when our national leaders provide their daily dose of hot air.

President Obama meets U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the White House at 11:30. They are expected to discuss their efforts to revive the global economy.

After that, Obama meets with Boy Scouts at 3 p.m.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies to Congress about the economy starting at 10:00, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies about Obama’s budget proposal at 12:30. Markets are continuing to swoon after yesterday’s plunge; will their testimony spark a rally?

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates will meet his French counterpart, Herve Morin.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Jerusalem, pledged to push hard for Palestinian statehood and said the United States might seek to improve relations with Syria.

The Senate begins debate on a $410 billion spending bill that would cover government operations through October. Obama’s former rival, Republican Senator John McCain, is upset about the earmarks contained in the bill.

The House may vote on a housing bill that would let bankruptcy judges reduce mortgage debt.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (A worker clears snow from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on March 2)

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Guess what? The economy is still in terrible shape.

The Dow Jones Industrial average plunged to its lowest level in six years yesterday, and all signs point to another lousy day on Wall Street today.

U.S. stock index futures are falling in early morning trading as worries about the fate of major banks mount. Shares of Citigroup were down 6.4 percent and Bank of America was down 8 percent in trading on the Frankfurt exchange.

President Obama has had a busy week. After signing the stimulus bill, unveiling his mortgage rescue plan and visiting Canada, he’ll talk up the stimulus at 10:30 a.m. today.

Every other economic indicator is in the toilet these days. How’s inflation? We’ll find out at 8:30 a.m., when the Labor Department releases its Consumer Price Index figures. Analysts say the numbers are expected to be moderate, with deflation more a concern than rising prices.

Authorities have tracked down accused fraudster Allen Stanford in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The FBI served the billionaire cricket promoter with civil charges accusing him of masterminding a “massive, ongoing fraud” with a price tag of roughly $8 billion.

Hillary Clinton had some tough talk for North Korea. On her first foreign jaunt as Secretary of State, she called the isolated country a “tyranny” and said it needs to settle down and return to nuclear talks.

Looks like they have a new prime minister in Israel. Right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu will be asked to form the next governent, 10 days after a parlaimentary election provded no clear winner.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

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Mortgages gone bad, auto industry seeking an add, and a chimpanzee gone mad starting off the day.

President Barack Obama out in Arizona to outline a housing bailout plan to offer help on distressed mortgages at 12:15 p.m. Washington time. The plan commits up to $275 billion to support housing, including through government subsidies to mortgage lenders to encourage lower payments for borrowers.

More negative economic data. New U.S. housing starts and permits dropped to record lows in January. Housing starts fell 16.8 percent to an annual rate of 466,000 units and new building permits fell 4.8 percent to 521,000 units.

The White House had been trying to tamp down expectations after last week’s rollout of a proposal to help the banking industry by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was greeted with a stock market drop on criticism it lacked detail.

The sagging automobile industry saga continues with an administration task force to review Chrysler and GM restructuring plans in order to get another $22 billion in bailout money. GM offered to scrap the Saturn brand while Chrysler said it would cut the P.T. Cruiser, Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen.

NBC’s “Today” show interviewed the owner of the 200-pound chimpanzee killed by police after it nearly killed a visiting friend. Sandra Herold had given her pet Travis, whom she treated like a son, tea and anti-anxiety drugs before his rampage.

She said the chimpanzee could drive and took off with the car a couple of times. “I’ll miss him for the rest of my life.”

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Photo credit: Reuters/staff photographer (billboard for foreclosure assistance in California in January)

In another first for the new First Family, President Barack Obama and his brood left the White House on Saturday for a helicopter trip to Camp David, the presidential retreat outside Washington.

Dressed casually and looking relaxed, Obama left the executive mansion with his wife Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha, mother-in-law Marian Robinson and an unidentified friend of the girls.

They boarded the awaiting helicopter and took off over the White House grounds. Spectators gathered outside the gates to watch.

The president and his family planned to stay at the retreat in Maryland until Sunday afternoon.

Camp David, in Catoctin Mountain Park, has been used as a relaxation spot for presidents since the era of Franklin Roosevelt and also hosts foreign leaders for visits and summits.

Obama has indicated he feels cooped up a bit in the White House, which the family has lived in for just over two weeks.

If he misses the travel of the presidential campaign, next week will feel familiar. Obama embarks on a roadshow of sorts on Monday to advocate for his economic stimulus package, with stops planned in Indiana and Florida.

And next weekend? Obama plans to go home to Chicago.

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Let it snow. Why should London have all the fun? Washington weather calls for a few inches, just enough for a snowball fight for hearty Midwesterners like President Barack Obama.

But guard that snow gear. The New York Times says reports of stolen snowplows are up in cold-weather states as the economy declines.

Speaking of the declining economy, Obama doing separate interviews this afternoon with just about every TV channel in the vicinity of the White House — ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and FOX.

Could he possibly be trying to sell the stimulus package that House Republicans shunned last week?

He will also announce his pick for Commerce Secretary at 11 a.m.

No one is commenting on the record, but plenty of unnamed sources have named the choice as Sen. Judd Gregg.

The New York Times editorial page calls for Tom Daschle to withdraw his name from consideration as Obama’s health secretary.

Question of the day: Are Daschle’s mea culpas over tax indiscretions enough to be forgiven and forgotten, or will there be a cloud hanging over the administration if he is confirmed?

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama walks to Oval Office on a snowy day last month)

WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden promised a “fully transparent” task force to help the middle class. So why is the audience laughing?

Biden is leading a task force to look at how to improve economic realities for working families. And it will have its own Web site astrongmiddleclass.gov as the Obama administration presses on with its goal to use the Internet to communicate with the public.

“This task force, I might add — which, coming out of the vice president’s office, will be a bit unique — will be fully transparent, totally transparent,” Biden said.

And the audience laughed.

“We are going to consult openly — openly and publicly with outside groups who can help us develop the most far-reaching and imaginative solutions to help us solve these problems and create the outcome we’re looking for,” Biden said. 

“And we’ll put all the material from our meetings and any report we produc`e up on the Web site.  None of this will happen behind closed doors.  We want the American people engaged.  We want them engaged from the outset,” he said.

Well…

All this talk about openness and transparency and no closed doors by the new vice president sounds a lot like a not so veiled dig at his predecessor, Dick Cheney, whom critics considered overly secretive.

The former vice president went to the Supreme Court to block adversaries from getting documents from an energy task force he headed.

And remember the undisclosed location?

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Photo credit: Reuters/Molly Riley (Biden and Cheney at vice president’s residence)

WASHINGTON - Lots of spinning going on.

Morning TV shows had footage of a spinning shark twirling out of the water and a spinning small plane blown about by the wind upon landing. And sports fans looking forward to the spinning football at Sunday’s Super Bowl.

NBC touting a live interview with President Barack Obama at about 5 p.m. EST before kick-off on Sunday.

Obama saying Wall Street taking bonuses while firms are being bailed out by taxpayer money is “the height of irresponsibility” and “shameful” is still making the rounds.

The U.S. economy contracted 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter, which was actually a smaller decline than the consensus expectation by economists for a 5.4 percent slip.

So is the GDP decline, the largest since the first quarter in 1982 — that’s almost 27 years — actually good news? Only the markets know.

Meanwhile, backat the White House, Obama expected to deliver remarks on a Middle Class Working Families Task Force and sign related executive orders later this morning.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama when presidential nominee holds up Pittsburgh Steelers football jersey)

Beware any Republican who might fall for President Barack Obama’s sales pitch Tuesday for his $825 billion economic stimulus plan. A vote for the legislation will disqualify you from receiving the Club for Growth’s “Defender of Economic Freedom” award. 

The conservative economic advocacy group issued the warning just hours before Obama was to meet with Republican members of the House of Representatives and the Senate in hopes of drumming up more support for his economic recovery plan. 

“No congressman can vote for the stimulus bill and claim to be a defender of economic freedom,” Club for Growth President Pat Toomey said in a statement. “In fact, the Democrats’ package is the antithesis of economic freedom. The bill is a paragon of government run amok, a ballooning deficit, fiscal irresponsibility, and political greed.” 

So far congressional Republicans have been cool to the Democratic-backed legislation, arguing it spends too much and gives too little in tax cuts. But with U.S. job losses mounting and consumer confidence crumbling, it may be difficult for many lawmakers to vote against the legislation Obama says is urgently needed to keep the economy from falling deeper into recession. 

The Club for Growth keeps a voting scorecard of up to 100 points. Every year its economic freedom trophy goes to those who earn a score of 90 or better. The group advocates conservative economic policies that include making President George W. Bush’s tax cuts permanent, limiting government and cutting spending.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Snow cleared from Capitol grounds ahead of visit from President Barack Obama)

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama’s $825 billion plan to boost the recession-bound U.S. economy has some elements that, well, aren’t the sort of stimulus that House Minority Leader John Boehner says he can believe in.
 
“I’m concerned about the size of the package, and I’m concerned about some of the spending that’s in there,” Boehner complained Friday after a meeting at White House.
 
“How can you spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives? How does that stimulate the economy?”
 
Hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives?
 
The Ohio congressman’s office explains. One proposal included in the stimulus package would expand Medicaid family planning services to all 50 states.
 
The proposal would enable people who don’t qualify for Medicaid to receive the family planning services, including contraceptives.
 
“Whether or not you think that is good public policy, it has nothing to do with an economic stimulus,” a spokesman for Boehner said.
 
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Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Boehner watches Obama speak to press)

Today marks the end of the Bush stock market.

He has presided over the evisceration of more than $4.6 trillion of U.S. stock market wealth as measured by the S&P 500.

By comparison, the S&P 500 gained more than $9 trillion in value under the eight years of Bill Clinton's administration.