Today’s Look at National Politics

How did it go last night with Palin, Newt and the Republican Party?

*Last night at the NRSC-NRCC fundraising dinner in Washington, Palin and her husband did a quick strut across the stage before taking their seats at a front table. NRSC Chair John Cornyn (Texas) thanked her for being there; NRCC Chair Pete Sessions did not. In his speech, Newt Gingrich mentioned seeing Palin and Sen. John McCain together just before the dinner started.

The stats from last night: around 150 House members; 33 senators; 2,000 guests; the two organizations made a combined $14.5 million.

*CNN: “In a lengthy speech that touched on topics ranging from health care to border security,” Newt Gingrich railed against the Obama administration’s ‘disastrous’ approach to federal spending and national security policy. He acknowledged the intra-party squabbles that have roiled the Republican party since last year’s election, but he said such debates are to be expected and will never really disappear from politics.”

*Sarah Palin did not speak at last night’s Republican fundraiser, but she did talk to Fox News. The NY Daily News: “Sarah Palin said ‘we told ya so’ to President Obama on Monday night, claiming his spending polices to revive the economy were leading America to socialism.

*The Hill: “Several GOP senators offered searing criticism of the Alaska governor when asked in recent interviews whether she could pose a credible challenge to President Obama in 2012. ‘She has to hunker down and govern and show she’s not a joke,’ said a GOP lawmaker who represents one of the southern battlegrounds of the 2012 election.”

and this:

**President Obama
*Gallup: “President Obama’s Cairo speech was given front-page treatment in the U.S. (and around the world), leading off most news broadcasts and appearing at the top of news Web sites. All of this visibility does not, however, appear to have made much difference in the way Americans view their president — at least not according to Gallup Daily tracking interviewing conducted through Sunday.”

*Los Angeles Times wraps up the stimulus push yesterday: “With the economy still sputtering and some experts doubting the program was meeting its goals, Obama vowed Monday to accelerate stimulus spending with the goal of creating or saving 600,000 jobs by summer’s end.”

*Washington Post reports that the Congressional Oversight Panel suggests there may need to be a second round of stress tests. The first one assumed a worst-case unemployment rate of 8.9 percent – it’s already beyond that.

*Health care: Bloomberg reports that in the next 10 days, Obama “will give details of plans that White House aides say would pay for the bulk of a new health-care system. This includes his recent call for an extra $200 billion to $300 billion in savings for the Medicare and Medicaid programs for the elderly and the poor, the officials said.”

Meanwhile, “despite a less-than-rousing reaction from the Obama administration, House Democrats are considering a new tax on employer-provided health benefits to help pay for expanding coverage to the uninsured,” AP reports. Several officials said the House legislation will include a government-run insurance option as well as plans offered by private companies. The government option draws near-unanimous opposition from Republicans and provokes concerns among many Democrats as well, although Obama has spoken out in favor of it.