Sarah Palin

Barbara Bush: I Hope Sarah Palin Stays In Alaska (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | November 20, 2010, 3:28PM

Doesn't look like former First Lady Barbara Bush is a big Sarah Palin fan.

In a taped interview scheduled to air Monday on "Larry King Live," Bush was asked for her thoughts on the former vice presidential candidate.

"I sat next to her once, thought she was beautiful, and I think she's very happy in Alaska, and I hope she'll stay there," Barbara Bush said.

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MN-GOV

County In Minnesota: Emmer's Argument Is 'Flawed' And 'Obsolete'

Jillian Rayfield | November 19, 2010, 4:46PM

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer (R)

Ramsey County in Minnesota has responded to Republican Tom Emmer's complaint with the Minnesota Supreme Court that possible "overvoting" occurred in the gubernatorial race. After counting voting receipts, Ramsey County drafted a written response that called the complaint "fundamentally flawed because they rely on a statute that uses obsolete language that is inconsistent with modern election day practices."

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Michael Steele

Michael Steele Attacks Establishment, Stakes Claim As A Tea Party Voice In The RNC

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 19, 2010, 4:36PM

RNC chairman Michael Steele

With the Republican National Commitee still reeling from former Political Director Gentry Collins' scathing indictment of chairman Michael Steele in his resignation letter, Steele has sent a letter of his own to the RNC's voting members defending his tenure at the helm of the committee.

TPM obtained a copy of the memo that Steele sent today, in which he highlighted his efforts to reach out to the tea party and drive turnout by reaching out to the Republican grassroots. And he took a less-than-subtle shot at establishment types who kept the fired-up conservative activists in the tea party at arms length for most of the cycle.

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Chamber of Commerce

Chamber's Anti Health Care Advocacy Financed By Insurers, Big-Dollar Contributions

Brian Beutler | November 19, 2010, 2:25PM

A still from the ad "Afford" by Employers For A Healthy Economy

In 2009, a single $86.2 million contribution from the health insurance industry's largest trade association, AHIP, accounted for almost half of the Chamber of Commerce's total contributions. Much of that money was dedicated to the Chamber's then-escalating campaign against the health care reform bill -- a campaign the Chamber characterized as an advocacy effort on behalf of the broader business community.

In the below ad, for instance, the Chamber warned of "increasing health care costs for businesses and working families.

In his State of American Business Address earlier this year, Chamber CEO Tom Donohue bemoaned the plight of business owners.

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Mick Foley

Wrestler Mick Foley Hits The Hill For Rape Kit Legislation

Megan Carpentier | November 19, 2010, 1:26PM

Mick Foley at a book signing of 'Countdown to Lockdown.'

Wrestler Mick Foley -- whose meeting with Tori Amos and subsequent work for the Rape, Abuse & Incest Action Network that she co-founded was chronicled on Slate in September -- joined RAINN, assault survivor-turned-advocate Julie Weil and "Private Practice" actress KaDee Strickland on Capitol Hill this week to push for passage of the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry (SAFER) Act.

The legislation, originally co-sponsored by the unlikely duo of Reps. Ted Poe (R-TX) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), would, among other things, allocate $10 million a year for a national registry to chronicle the backlog in DNA testing on rape kits and allow local law enforcement to audit their backlogs.

In an exclusive interview with TPM, Foley explained his interest in the cause: "I came to feel that there were not many males out there talking about a problem that really does affect everybody. Statistically speaking, everybody knows somebody who's been affected by rape and sexual assault whether they know it or not."

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MN-GOV

Mark Dayton: Tom Emmer's MN-GOV Challenge Is 'Desperate'

Jillian Rayfield | November 19, 2010, 12:33PM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

Democrat Mark Dayton today called Republican Tom Emmer's attempt to challenge the results of Minnesota's governor's race in court "desperate."

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Joe Biden

Biden Cracks Up Over Idea That Palin Could Beat Obama In 2012 (VIDEO)

David Taintor | November 19, 2010, 12:12PM

Vice President Joe Biden

Sometimes actions speak louder than words. Like when Vice President Joe Biden simply couldn't control his laughter over the thought of Sarah Palin winning against President Barack Obama in 2012.

Palin told Barbara Walters in an interview set to air in full on December 9 that she thinks she could win.

Appearing first on Larry King Live last night, then Morning Joe today, Biden offered a few carefully chosen remarks about a potential Obama-Palin matchup.

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Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson: Deficit Plan Can Pass After Debt Limit 'Blood Bath'

Brian Beutler | November 19, 2010, 11:52AM

Alan Simpson

The Republican co-chair of the White House's fiscal commission predicted this morning that his controversial recommendations for reducing long-term deficits will have a real opportunity to become enacted next year, when the nation brushes up against its debt ceiling, and newly elected Republicans threaten to send the country into default.

"I can't wait for the blood bath in April," said Alan Simpson at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast roundtable with reporters this morning. "It won't matter whether two of us have signed this or 14 or 18. When debt limit time comes, they're going to look around and say, 'What in the hell do we do now? We've got guys who will not approve the debt limit extension unless we give 'em a piece of meat, real meat, off of this package.' And boy the bloodbath will be extraordinary."

Here's a primer on the coming legislative fight over raising the national debt limit.

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Tim Profitt

Kentucky Stomper's Attorney: Tape Shows 'My Client Is Justified' (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 19, 2010, 11:41AM

Tim Profitt, the former Rand Paul county coordinator who stomped on a MoveOn activist's head outside the final debate of the Kentucky Senate race in October, finally got his day in court yesterday. And though Profitt didn't say much, his lawyer told reporters that the notorious video of Profitt's foot crushing down on MoveOn activist Lauren Valle actually shows Profitt had been subject to a smear campaign.

Profitt appeared in a Lexington, KY court and pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from the incident, which briefly defined the Kentucky Senate race before Paul, the Republican nominee, won in a landslide Nov. 2.

The court was packed with folks trying to catch a glimpse of the Kentucky Stomper, according to reports from the ground. And though Profitt's been willing to discuss the incident before (like that time when he blamed a bad back for stepping on a woman that was being held down on the ground,) in court and afterward he kept his mouth shut.

His lawyer, however, laid out a defense to the charges that partly hinged on the video that got Profitt in trouble in the first place.

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AK-SEN

Colbert: Congratulations On Your Win, Joe Miller (VIDEO)

David Taintor | November 19, 2010, 11:30AM

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert last night had a bit of breaking news, declaring "tea party favorite and groomed yeti" Republican Joe Miller the winner in the Alaska Senate race.

The AP has already declared write-in candidate and incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski the winner, and the Alaska GOP has urged Miller to concede gracefully. But that didn't stop Colbert from celebrating.

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AK-SEN

Miller Files Injunction In AK-SEN, Asks For A Recount

Jillian Rayfield | November 19, 2010, 11:07AM

Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller (R)

Republican Joe Miller is officially not giving up in the Alaska Senate race.

Yesterday, he filed an injunction in federal court to stop the race from being certified for write-in candidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski. He also requested that all of the votes in the election be recounted.

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Grover Norquist

Grover Norquist: This Time, Gov't Shutdown Will Help The GOP (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 19, 2010, 10:20AM

Grover Norquist

Grover Norquist wants to party like it's 1995. The Americans for Tax Reform chief and noted Ronald Reagan fan says that Republicans would really do themselves a favor by forcing another government shutdown like they did the last time they took over the House when a Democratic president was in office.

Speaking to Politico, Norquist said that if the Republicans shut down the government over spending concerns this time around, it'll be a lot different than when they did it in 1995. The shutdowns that year are generally seen as a victory for then-President Clinton, who used the images of shuttered Social Security offices and other government agencies to paint the GOP as fanatical.

If the government were to be shut down thanks to a budget dispute between the White House and the Republicans in Congress next year, however, Norquist says the only person who'd suffer politically would be President Obama.

"He will be less popular if in service of overspending and wasting people's money, he closes the government down," he said.

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MN-GOV

GOPer's MN-GOV Vote Complaint Leans On Witnesses With GOP Ties

Eric Lach | November 19, 2010, 9:08AM

Tom Emmer

The Republican Party of Minnesota and Tom Emmer's gubernatorial campaign have filed a petition with the state's Supreme Court, alleging that some election judges did not follow the rules when tallying votes. Emmer's argument is that improper record-keeping resulted in extra votes being counted, and he wants the matter addressed before the state's canvassing board certifies the results. But the Minnesota Independent reports that the "vast majority" of the witnesses in the complaint have ties to the Republican Party or the Tea Party movement.

Democrat Mark Dayton leads Emmer by about 8,700 votes, which is close enough to trigger an automatic recount. The canvassing board is scheduled to certify the results on November 23, with a recount slated to begin November 29.

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Exit polls

Exit Polls Give Insight Into 2010's Big Shift Right

Marc Kilstein | November 19, 2010, 8:40AM

A woman voting

With November's elections behind us, exit polls can now help explain how exactly things played out at the polls. The American Enterprise Institute For Public Policy Research released their analysis of this year's House exit polls, and within it, a picture emerges of this election season's altered, right-leaning electorate.

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George W. Bush

Will Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' Banner Hang In His Presidential Library?

David Taintor | November 19, 2010, 8:36AM

Former President George W. Bush aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003.

Former President George W. Bush and members of his administration broke ground on the new George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas earlier this week, but at least one question about the decor remains unanswered: will the infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner be put on display?

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MN-GOV

MN-GOV Recount Looms -- But Dem Dayton Already Planning Transition

David Taintor | November 19, 2010, 8:36AM

Minnesota Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mark Dayton

Recount? What recount?

Democrat Mark Dayton is making it clear that he's going to be ready if he is declared the next governor of Minnesota, launching his transition site, daytontransition.org -- recount or no.

The site leads with a welcome message from Dayton and his running mate, Yvonne Prettner Solon, saying that while election officials sort out who the official winner is, "the challenges facing us and our State simply cannot wait."

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Bush Tax Cuts

Harry Reid Tries To Box GOP In On Tax Cuts Vote

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 18, 2010, 5:20PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he's willing to do "whatever it takes" to extend the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, up to and including allowing a vote on extending all the cuts, not just those on incomes below $250,000.

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill this afternoon after a Democratic caucus meeting that focused on the Bush tax cuts -- which will expire in January unless something is done in the lame duck session -- Reid said that he's willing to allow a vote on Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's plan to extend all the cuts in exchange for many votes on dealing with the upper-income cuts while letting the middle class cuts continue.

Such a bargain would put Republicans in the politically tricky position of having to filibuster middle class tax cuts, or abandon their goal of permanent tax cuts for wealthy Americans.

"We want an opportunity and -- and we mean plural -- to vote once, twice, whatever it takes to show the American people that we support the middle class," Reid said. He said there could be "multiple variations" on how to proceed on the cuts for wealthier Americans.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Hoyer Says Dems Will 'Definitely' Vote On Just Middle Class Tax Cuts

Jillian Rayfield | November 18, 2010, 4:22PM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

As Greg Sargent first reported in the Washington Post, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Democrats in a closed-door meeting today that there would "definitely" be a vote on extending just the middle class tax cuts before the end of the year.

A Dem lawmaker confirms to TPM that the House will hold a middle-class only vote.

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George Allen

PPP Poll: Virginia Republicans Want Former Sen. George Allen In 2012

Marc Kilstein | November 18, 2010, 3:02PM

Former Sen. George Allen (R-VA)

Former Sen. George Allen (R-VA), perhaps best remembered for blowing a seemingly guaranteed re-election bid in 2006, appears to be Virginia Republicans' clear preference for the 2012 Senate race, according to a newly released Public Policy Polling survey.

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James Carville

Carville: If Hillary Gave Obama One Of Her Balls, 'He'd Have Two'

Eric Lach | November 18, 2010, 2:26PM

Democratic strategist James Carville

Via Tribune reporter Mike Memoli on Twitter comes a colorful line from Democratic strategist James Carville:

"If Hillary gave up one of her balls and gave it to Obama, he'd have two."

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Oversight Committee

New York Congressmen Back Towns To Take On Issa

Brian Beutler | November 18, 2010, 2:22PM

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY)

New York House Democrats, including members who lost their seats on November 2, want fellow New Yorker Edolphus Towns to keep the top spot on the Oversight Committee next year.

"As members of the New York delegation, we are supporting our colleague Rep. Edolphus Towns, current Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to become the committee's Ranking Member," the 25 Dems wrote in a letter to colleagues.

More on the brewing battle between towns and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) for the ranking member position here.

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Debt

Cantor Dismisses Budget Fixing Proposal Because It Sounds Too European

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 18, 2010, 1:34PM

Eric Cantor

There are many reasons why Republicans cannot talk about new taxes, even in the name of debt reduction. One is their tea party base, which will (rhetorically) tear limb from limb any politician who dares discuss increasing government revenues by raising the tax rate on anyone by even a smidge. Another, apparently, is because some revenue-neutral tax ideas to spur growth in the economy just sound too much like something a European might do.

Eric Cantor, incoming House Majority Leader, outlined this latter objection to a new in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Asked about a proposal to fix the nation's federal deficit co-authored by a Democratic budget expert and noted non-European retired Sen. Pete Domenici (R), which would actually lower taxes on income and corporations, Cantor dismissed it because, basically, parts of it look to him like something a European might consider.

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Sharron Angle

Sharron Angle: 'Sometimes Dictators Have Good Ideas'

David Taintor | November 18, 2010, 12:13PM

Sharron Angle

Failed Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle -- who fell short in her bid to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) -- is making headlines again, this time for having said "sometimes dictators have good ideas."

Jon Ralston at the Las Vegas Sun reports that Angle made the comments at a private meet and greet late in the campaign season.

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Michael Steele

Republican Governors Trash Michael Steele

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 18, 2010, 12:04PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

The backlash against RNC Chair Michael Steele has gone public. Gathering in California this week, the members of the Republican Governors Association shot some arrows back at RNC headquarters in Washington, openly calling for Steele's replacement.

Politico's Jonathan Martin reports that current RGA chair and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour -- whom many Republicans saw as the defacto leader of the GOP instead of Steele in the past election -- was direct in his call for a change at the RNC.

"Asked in an interview...whether there should be a new chairman of the party," Barbour "flatly said 'Yes.'"

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Alaska Republican Party

Alaska GOP To Joe Miller: Give It Up, Dude

Jillian Rayfield | November 18, 2010, 11:41AM

Senate candidate Joe Miller (R-AK)

Joe Miller may not be ready to give up on the Alaska Senate race, but the Republican Party of Alaska sure is.

In a statement yesterday, AK GOP Chairman Randy Ruedrich said: "This was a free and fair election. It is now time to look forward. We call on Joe Miller to respect the will of the voters and end his campaign in a dignified manner. We have every expectation that Joe will do the right thing."

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Slurpee Summit

Hoyer Slams GOP For Delaying Slurpee Summit

Brian Beutler | November 18, 2010, 11:26AM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

Outgoing House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer today chastised Republicans for not accommodating President Obama, and delaying the post-election "Slurpee Summit" until after Thanksgiving.

"I can never remember an instance when President Bush asked me or the Democratic leadership to come down and meet with him that we did not accommodate our schedule to that request," Hoyer said at a press availability this morning. "I think that is not only respectful with the President of the United States but it also furthers the ability to solve the problems confronting our country. I was disappointed."

According to Hoyer this most recent episode is part and parcel of their generally dismissive attitude toward the President going back to his election.

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Health Care

McConnell: Health Care Reform Leads America On A Path To Tyranny

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 18, 2010, 10:45AM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took another step toward embracing the Republican Party's new tea party mandate in a speech before the Federalist Society's annual convention in Washington this morning. Ripping a page right from the tea party hymnal, McConnell pledged to hold a vote on "full repeal" of the landmark health care law signed this year by President Obama, suggesting that unless Republicans can kill the legislation, America could be headed for a tyrannical police state.

Fear of the health care law -- and more specifically, its individual mandate clause requiring the public to purchase health insurance as a way to bring down overall medical costs -- was a tea party mantra on the campaign trail, with conservative activists claiming it would lead to everything from out-of-control spending increases to government-run death panels that will decide who lives or dies. McConnell embraced some of that terror in his speech today.

"By preventing the accumulation of excessive power, the Constitution is designed to reduce the risk of tyranny or abuse at either the Federal or state levels," McConnell told the audience of conservative legal scholars. "The health care bill would remove an important bulwark of this protection."

"So fighting this mandate couldn't be more important," he added.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Quinnipiac Poll: 58% Of Americans Support Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Marc Kilstein | November 18, 2010, 10:35AM

Lt. Dan Choi at a protest against Don't Ask, Don't Tell

On the heels of an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll suggesting an increase in support for gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, a new Quinnipiac poll finds 58% of respondents favoring a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

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AK-SEN

Murkowski Declares Victory, Says 'Reality' Might Not Have Hit Miller Yet

Jillian Rayfield | November 18, 2010, 10:08AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski declared victory last night after a nearly unprecedented write-in campaign for Alaska Senate, beating out Republican nominee and Tea Party favorite Joe Miller. "I think we can say our miracle is here," Murkowski said at a rally in Alaska last night.

And when making the rounds on the cable news shows last night and this morning, Murkowski was confident that though Miller is not giving up yet, "you just can't convince me that a recount is going to change the outcome of this."

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The Daily Show

Jon Stewart: Republicans Are 'Adults' Who Say 'No ... Because I Said So' (VIDEO)

David Taintor | November 18, 2010, 9:58AM

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart last night lampooned the Republicans' ongoing call to have an "adult conversation" about taxes and government spending, questioning just how mature that conversation would be.

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Health Care

Snowe Joins Anti-Health Care Reform Lawsuit

Brian Beutler | November 18, 2010, 9:56AM

She was once considered the most likely Republican to vote for health care reform. Now, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) is joining scores of Republicans and conservatives in support of the Florida health care lawsuit's plaintiffs, challenging the Constitutionality of the law.

Yesterday, she and 30 other Republicans signed an amicus brief in the case.

"As I asserted during the debate on this legislation, the individual mandate has no place in a health care reform bill unless and until affordable health insurance is available for all Americans," Snowe said in a statement. "That is why I offered an amendment in committee that would have tempered down the severity of the individual mandate and filed an amendment on the Senate floor to strike it entirely from the bill. We must take seriously the gravity of this imperious and intrusive government mandate and repeal the individual mandate before millions of Americans are forced to purchase health care coverage that they neither want nor can afford."

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Afghanistan

Quinnipiac Poll: Opposition To War In Afghanistan Rises To 50%

Marc Kilstein | November 18, 2010, 9:50AM

Soldiers in Afghanistan

Half of Americans now oppose the war in Afghanistan, according to a newly released Quinnipiac poll.

The survey finds 50% of respondents indicating the U.S. should "not be involved in Afghanistan," versus 44% who believe America is "doing the right thing by fighting the war." This is the first time Quinnipiac has found more respondents in opposition to the war than in support of it. A September 9 survey found 49% supporting American involvement, with 41% in opposition. Back in January, the pollster saw 59% supporting the war, while only 35% opposed it.

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John Boehner

House Dems Press GOP To Abandon Their Federal Health Benefits

Brian Beutler | November 18, 2010, 9:18AM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

House Democrats are exploiting an embarrassing moment for the GOP earlier this week to highlight the hypocrisy of Republicans' relentless opposition to health care reform.

Four members -- Joe Crowley (NY), Linda Sanchez (CA), Donna Edwards (MD), and Tim Ryan (OH) -- are rounding up signatures for a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Speaker-to-be John Boehner, encouraging them to press their members to refuse their federal health benefits based on the same principles underlying their opposition to health care reform.

"It is amazing that your members would complain about not having health care coverage for a few weeks, even after campaigning to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which will help provide coverage to millions of Americans who find themselves without health insurance for months or even years," the letter reads. "It begs the question: how many members of the Republican conference will be forgoing the employer-subsidized FEHBP coverage and experiencing what so many Americans find themselves forced to face? If your conference wants to deny millions of Americans affordable health care, your members should walk that walk."

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Gays in the military

Poll: 'Sea Change' In Support For Gays In The Military

David Taintor | November 18, 2010, 8:30AM

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday shows increasing support for gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.

The survey finds that 50% of Americans support allowing gays to serve openly in the military, up from 40% a decade ago. Thirty-eight percent of respondents favor gays serving under the current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" guidelines, and only 10% don't want to allow gays in the military at all.

Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart and Republican Bill McInturff conducted the poll.

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Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi Prevails Over Uneasy Democratic Caucus

Brian Beutler | November 17, 2010, 6:19PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

For hours Wednesday morning and afternoon, while House Republicans went through an almost perfunctory exercise of electing the next Speaker of the House, Democrats vented steam over the results of the November 2nd election. Dozens rebelled against the existing leadership team. Others simply were too shell-shocked to give Nancy Pelosi a vote of confidence so soon after their party lost over 60 seats.

When all was said and done, the leadership team will be the same as last last year's. Pelosi won her race against Blue Dog Heath Shuler (NC) -- a mostly symbolic opponent -- handily, and everybody else took one step down behind her. Steny Hoyer (MD) will become the minority whip. Jim Clyburn (SC) will settle into a new, and ill-defined role as assistant minority leader, and John Larson (CT) and Xavier Becerra (CA) will retain their roles as conference chair and vice-chair.

Getting there was a saga Democrats are eagerly working to put behind them.

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AK-SEN

Fox News' Neil Cavuto To Joe Miller: Do You Feel Like Custer Right Now? (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | November 17, 2010, 6:03PM

Now that the AP has called the Alaska Senate race for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Neil Cavuto wants to know this of Republican Joe Miller: "Do you feel a little like Custer right now?"

On Fox News this afternoon, Miller told Cavuto that "it's not a question as to how I feel, it's a question as to whether or not the voters of the state of Alaska deserve to have a consistent standard applied to the future, whether or not they deserve integrity in the vote. And those questions aren't answered yet."

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NV-SEN

John Ensign Is Running Again -- And One Poll Shows That's Not A Bad Idea

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 17, 2010, 3:23PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) -- yes, that Sen. John Ensign -- thinks he can convince the voters of Nevada to grant him another term in office in 2012.

Broke and under investigation for trying to cover up an affair by allegedly funneling contracts to his mistress' husband, Ensign doesn't have the kind of resume recruiters generally look for when trying to populate the ballot.

Nevertheless, his staff told the Las Vegas Review-Journal yesterday that the Senator is ready to earn a third term.

"Senator Ensign has been focused on earning back the trust of Nevadans and does plan to run for re-election at this time," spokesperson Jennifer Cooper told the paper.

Some new numbers from Nevada suggest that as crazy as an Ensign campaign might sound, on paper it might actually make sense.

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Mark Dayton

Emmer Files Petition Over Possible 'Overvote' In MN-GOV Race

Jillian Rayfield | November 17, 2010, 3:05PM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

Republican Tom Emmer and the Minnesota Republicans have filed a petition with the state Supreme Court ahead of an expected recount to make sure that there was no "overvote" in the Minnesota governors race.

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AK-SEN

AP: Murkowski Wins Alaska Senate Race

Jillian Rayfield | November 17, 2010, 3:04PM

Lisa Murkowski R-AK

Write-in candidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski has won the Alaska Senate race, according to the Associated Press.

That call comes more than two weeks after the polls closed in Alaksa. State elections officials announced that there were only 700 votes left to count, with Murkowski holding a 10,000-vote lead over her opponent, Republican nominee Joe Miller.

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Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi Elected Minority Leader By 150-43, Hoyer Elected Whip

Megan Carpentier | November 17, 2010, 2:43PM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

House Democrats elected current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi their next Minority Leader, part of Democrats' preparations to return to being the minority party in the House in 2011.

Pelosi survived a movement by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) earlier in the day to delay the leadership votes until December to give the caucus time to think their losses over more thoroughly. That vote, conducted by a secret ballot, failed 129-68, a smaller-than-expected margin. But both votes indicated a not-insignificant degree of contention within the Democratic caucus.

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Darrell Issa

Inside The High Stakes Fight To Take On Darrell Issa

Brian Beutler | November 17, 2010, 2:04PM

Reps. Ed Towns (D-NY) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

The race is officially on to determine who will take on Darrell Issa next year as top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. But this contest is in a lot of ways more complicated than the other post-election power struggles we've seen in the last couple weeks. And unlike, say, the House Democratic Whip struggle, which centered on an inside-baseball leadership position, the stakes here are very public and very high.

The two principle combatants are the current Oversight Committee chair, Edolphus Towns, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) -- one of the committee's senior members.

According to Democratic aides who agreed to speak off the record to discuss the contest candidly, there's no easy answer here.

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VA-SEN

PPP Poll: Dem Jim Webb Leads Potential Virginia Senate Challengers

Howard Polikoff | November 17, 2010, 1:55PM

Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA)

A new Public Policy Polling (D) survey shows Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) with an early lead in his possible 2012 re-election bid. This comes on the heels of numbers showing President Obama leading the top 2012 Republican presidential contenders in Virginia.

And if former Gov. Tim Kaine was the Democrats' Senate nominee in Virginia? He's ahead of prominent Virginia Republicans, too.

Read more »

Slurpee Summit

Examiner Ed Page Editor (Falsely) Claims Obama 'Showed Up Uninvited' To Question Time (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 17, 2010, 1:39PM

One of the stranger sub-memes to fly around Washington in awhile is the new conservative rewrite of the story surrounding President Obama's televised appearance before House Republicans at their annual policy retreat back in January. Colloquially dubbed "question time," the event has taken on a cult status among progressives, who see the session as basically a long sequence of Obama kicking Republican rhetorical butt.

Conservatives, apparently, are still smarting from the episode and have begun to misremember it. At the time, Republicans were practically goading Obama into coming to Baltimore to address their retreat, and were extremely excited when he agreed to appear. Republican Representatives in the audience tweeted their followers, urging them to tune into C-SPAN and watch what was to become a defining moment of Obama's presidency when, seemingly from off the cuff, he aced Republican question after Republican question (at least in the eyes of his supporters).

But as Republicans gear up for another high-profile meeting with Obama -- this time, the so-called Slurpee Summit post-election dinner scheduled for Nov. 30 at the White House -- conservatives have begun to pretend that the drubbing observers said Republicans took the last time around wasn't their fault.

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AK-SEN

Murkowski Flying Home Today As AK-SEN Vote Count Ends

Jillian Rayfield | November 17, 2010, 1:29PM

Just over a week after returning to D.C. for the lame duck session, Sen. Lisa Murkowski is flying back to Alaska as the count of write-in votes looks to be wrapping up today. And it appears that she could declare victory in the Senate race.

Murkowski campaign manager Kevin Sweeney told the New York Times that Murkowski will hold an event in Anchorage tonight for supporters, and "she will comment on the election once all the votes are counted tomorrow afternoon."

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Peter DeFazio

DeFazio's Secret Vote On Delaying Dem Leadership Elections Fails

Brian Beutler | November 17, 2010, 12:45PM

Nancy Pelosi

A quick update on the ongoing House Dem leadership elections.

A source tells us that inside the caucus meeting moments ago, a motion authored by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) to hold a secret ballot vote on delaying the House leadership elections until December passed with a majority of votes. Though DeFazio hasn't expressed a preference for a Minority Leader, he is widely known to be opposed to Pelosi remaining in the top slot.

The secret ballot to delay the vote failed 129-68, according to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA).

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Slurpee Summit

McConnell: I Look Forward To Meeting With Obama, Eventually

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 17, 2010, 12:28PM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor today to praise the idea of a bipartisan summit at the White House, even as reports indicate that Republicans rebuffed President Obama's plan to hold just such a meeting this week.

There will be plenty of time for bipartianship after the turkey is picked clean, McConnell said this morning.

"When we return from the Thanksgiving break, Republican and Democrat leaders will have the opportunity to discuss priorities with the President in a meeting at the White House," he said. "I'm looking forward to that meeting, and to the opportunity to share with the President, again, the areas where we agree."

McConnell said he and the president can find common ground on energy production (more nuclear power and more clean coal experiments) and growing jobs "through increased trade opportunities abroad."

But when's the best time to have that conversation? That's a point of contention.

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Blue Dogs

Conservadems Try To Strip Pelosi's Power To Assign Committees

Brian Beutler | November 17, 2010, 12:01PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Three of the conservative Democrats who've been grousing about Nancy Pelosi's bid to lead the party in the 112th Congress are trying meekly to strip her of some of the perks that come with being top dog -- like making committee assignments.

In a letter circulated to Democratic members this morning ahead of the Dems' leadership elections, Reps. Larry Kissell (D-NC), Jim Matheson (D-UT), and Dan Lipinski (D-IL), are trying build support for stripping Pelosi of the powers that come with being minority leader.

"In light of the significant losses our party suffered earlier this month, we believe it is imperative that today's organizational meeting should provide all Members the opportunity to openly debate the rules that will be proposed for the 112th Congress and offer amendments that they believe would improve the ability of the Caucus to develop and message a Democratic agenda, recruit candidates, and return Democrats to the majority in 2012," they write.

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AK-SEN

Murkowski: I Don't Blame The GOP For Supporting Miller

Jillian Rayfield | November 17, 2010, 11:26AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski said yesterday that she doesn't blame her felllow GOPers for throwing their weight behind the tea party-backed Joe Miller in the Alaska Senate race. "I knew that by running as a write-in candidate, I would not be my party's nominee," she said. "I could not expect that same level of support that other party nominees would have, and that's the simple reality of it."

Murkowski launched her write-in campaign after losing to Miller in the Republican primary, and now looks poised to win as the state finishes counting the write-in ballots.

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Darrell Issa

Kucinich Confirms Oversight Run, Says Issa Is 'Reckless'

Ryan J. Reilly | November 17, 2010, 10:37AM

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) sent his colleagues a letter on Wednesday confirming that he is seeking the post of ranking member of the House Committee for Oversight and Government Reform.

Also in the running for the ranking member position is current House Oversight Committee Chairman Ed Towns (D-NY). Towns has faced criticism from fellow Democrats who don't think he would be a strong enough counterweight to Issa. The White House, however, has said they expect their relationship with Towns to continue. The Congressional Black Caucus would likely resist efforts to oust Towns, who is a member of the caucus.

Kucinich criticized Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chairman-in-waiting of the Oversight Committee, for making what he called unsubstantiated claims about the Obama administration.

"Mr. Issa, through his eagerness to make unsubstantiated charges and to draw conclusions in advance of evidence, reveals a lack of restraint and basic fairness," Kucinich wrote. "This conduct in the Chairman of the Committee will degrade Congress' oversight credibility and undermine the institution of the House through a lack of restraint in the use of subpoena power."

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AK-SEN

Murkowski's AK-SEN Lead Nearly Insurmountable -- Miller Demands Recount

Jillian Rayfield | November 17, 2010, 10:06AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Joe Miller

Write-in candidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is now leading Republican nominee Joe Miller by 10,400 votes in the Alaska Senate race. Though the Miller campaign has challenged a portion of those votes, Murkowski is still leading by 2,247 uncontested ballots, giving her what seems to be an insurmountable lead over Miller.

But Miller is not done yet -- his campaign is now calling for the Division of Elections to recount all of the ballots, not just the write-ins, by hand, citing "past problems with machine counting" that give Murkowski an edge over Miller since her votes were all counted by hand.

Murkowski launched her write-in campaign after losing the Republican primary to the tea party-backed Miller. Write-in candidates received 41% of the vote in the general election, which forced a count of the ballots to see how many were for Murkowski.

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Stimulus

Republicans Try To Roll Back Fed's Job Creation Mandate

Brian Beutler | November 17, 2010, 9:45AM

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)

A growing number of Republicans want to tie the hands of the Federal Reserve, choking off perhaps the last best hope for a speedier economic recovery.

In a sluggish economy like this one, policy makers have a handful of powerful tools at their disposal. The most conventional tool -- fiscal stimulus -- is politically out of reach. Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have vowed to block any more deficit spending bills aimed at injecting demand into the economy.

"[W]e will loudly oppose future stimulus bills that only stimulate the deficit," McConnell said at a recent Heritage Foundation speech.

That leaves monetary stimulus. Under its mandate to promote full employment, the Fed is supposed to use tools at its disposal to spur economic growth. Republicans want to stop that too.

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RNC

RNC Taps Ex-Bush, McCain Staffers To Replace Outgoing Political Director

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 17, 2010, 9:44AM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

In the wake of Republican National Committee political director Gentry Collins' spectacular departure from the RNC yesterday, chairman Michael Steele has tapped two veterans of the last two presidential cycles to replace him.

Collins left in a very public huff, dropping a letter on the RNC's executive committee that all but declared Steele incompetent to run the committee heading into the 2012 cycle. The RNC reacted by defending Steele's results and pulling in two new people to take over where Collins left off.

Jon Seaton, former John McCain campaign director in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and John Peschong, a former official in the Reagan administration and Senior Strategist for both McCain and George W. Bush, will be joining Steele's team at the RNC as Senior Political Advisors.

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Thad Allen Dishes On Oil Spill: Sparring With The Press, BP And Nuking The Well

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 17, 2010, 8:41AM

U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, National Incident Commander

Remember when people thought it might a good idea to nuke the well at the height of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico this summer?

Yeah, that was never gonna happen. But not for lack of interest.

So says retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the man who ran the government response to the devastating spill. Allen addressed an audience at the Center For Strategic and International Studies in Washington Tuesday evening, where he laid out the trials and tribulations of being the public face of the efforts to clean up the largest ecological disaster in US history. One of those trials, Allen said, was trying to explain why a military designed to fight wars didn't have the right equipment to stop an oil spill.

"I had many, many conversations about why the Department of Defense wasn't brought in to solve this problem," he said. "I got asked at least on five occasions throughout the course of this thing why we didn't think about using a nuclear weapon on the well, ok?"

The uncomfortable truth, Allen said, was that the only people who had the equipment to stop the oil spill were the companies that pull the oil out of the ground in the first place.

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Barack Obama

Slurpees Get Slushy As White House Summit Postponed

Brian Beutler | November 16, 2010, 6:41PM

President Obama speaks at a bipartisan White House gathering with Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) in the background.

At the request of Congressional Republican leaders the "Slurpee Summit," proposed by President Obama the day after the midterm elections and tentatively scheduled this Thursday, will be put off for a while.

A statement from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reads, "At the request of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner due to scheduling conflicts in organizing their caucuses, the President's meeting with bipartisan leaders will now take place at the White House on Tuesday, November 30th."

McConnell's spokesman Don Stewart sends over this statement: "The meeting will happen but a date is not yet set; the schedulers are working to find the best date/time to make it happen. We'll have a meeting so that we can discuss issues that Republicans have long said can be accomplished together. These include reducing spending, growing jobs through increased trade and increasing domestic energy. The Leader is encouraged that the President wants to discuss these areas of agreement."

It looks like it might happen on November 30.

Late update: Whew! Stewart says, "The meeting will happen on Nov. 30. We'll have a meeting so that we can discuss issues that Republicans have long said can be accomplished together. These include reducing spending, growing jobs through increased trade and increasing domestic energy. The Leader is encouraged that the President wants to discuss these areas of agreement."

Mitch McConnell

Senate Republicans Pass Earmark Moratorium

Brian Beutler | November 16, 2010, 5:53PM

Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

As expected, the Senate Republican conference passed an earmark moratorium resolution this afternoon. It's non-binding, but expresses the view of the full GOP caucus.

Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn and Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill are pressing to make the ban statutory. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't wild about the idea, but he promised to work with both members to bring the issue up for a vote in the Senate.

The GOP conference also approved a balanced budget resolution authored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

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Rand Paul

Rand Paul Tells TPM That Tea Party Is Shaping Earmark Debate (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | November 16, 2010, 5:09PM

Sen.-elect Rand Paul (R-KY)

Senator-elect Rand Paul (R-KY) was in D.C. on Tuesday, where TPM ran into him and asked for his impressions of the Senate so far. Paul said the Tea Party has already shown its influence through the push for Senate Republicans to ban earmarks.

"We're pretty excited about the fact that we think the Tea Party is shaping the debate," Paul said. "Already, the caucus looks like it is going to move forward to having a ban on earmarks, which is a step towards having a more frugal government."

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Eric Cantor

Cantor Spox Writes Indignant Op-Ed Addressing Netanyahu Flap

Eric Lach | November 16, 2010, 5:02PM

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Rep. Eric Cantor's spokersperson Brad Dayspring has written an op-ed in Politico to address the fallout from a meeting between his boss and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York last week. In the piece, Dayspring expresses outrage with the news media, which "hyperbolically suggested that the incident was a scandal, or worse, a felony."

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Dave Camp

GOP's Top Tax Guy: Republicans Will Block Permanent Middle-Class Tax Cut

Brian Beutler | November 16, 2010, 4:51PM

Rep Dave Camp (R-MI) and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

The Republicans' top tax guy in the House threatened in the clearest possible terms today that he and the rest of the GOP would vote to block any tax cut for the middle class during the lame duck session unless tax cuts for the wealthy are extended for the same period of time.

In a policy speech at the business-friendly Tax Council today, incoming Ways and Means Committee chairman David Camp called the Democratic plan for tax cuts -- a permanent tax cut extension for all income up to $200,000, and a temporary extension for income above that level -- "a terrible idea and a total nonstarter."

"We would be foolish to fall for it," Camp said.

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RNC

RNC Responds To Political Director's Attack: Hey, We Raised A Lot Of Money

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 16, 2010, 4:49PM

RNC chairman Michael Steele

The Republican National Committee is firing back at a scathing resignation letter dropped by RNC Political Director Gentry Collins today.

Sort of.

In a brief statement, RNC spokesperson Doug Heye offered up a defense of the RNC's fundraising apparatus under Chairman Michael Steele -- but offered only a vague defense in response to Collins' charge that of the money Steele raised, he spent poorly. Nor did the RNC respond to Collins' claim that the party has been left with crippling debt that must be paid off before the 2012 cycle begins.

"For the first time in 16 years the Republican Party held neither the White House or either Chamber of Congress," Heye wrote. "Despite lacking that fundraising advantage, the RNC was able to raise more than $175 million, over $24 million more than the RNC raised during the entire 1994 cycle and over $36 million more than the DNC raised during the entire 2006 cycle, indexed for inflation."

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2012 elections

PPP Poll: Obama Leads Top 2012 GOPers In Virginia

Marc Kilstein | November 16, 2010, 4:40PM

President Barack Obama

In the 2008 election, Obama became the first Democratic president to take Virginia since Lyndon Johnson. In the wake of speculation that this would not be repeated in 2012, PPP surveyed state voters. The results? Obama is found leading all four Republican frontrunners by at least five points.

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Andy Harris

Study: Most Workers Have To Wait Longer For Health Insurance Than Congress

Brian Beutler | November 16, 2010, 4:04PM

Rep.-elect (and physician) Andy Harris (R-MD) stood up at an orientation of newly elected members, flabbergasted that he'd have to wait a month for his government-provided private health insurance to kick in.

"This is the only employer I've ever worked for where you don't get coverage the first day you are employed," he reportedly complained, outraged by the delay.

For a man of the people, that's a pretty impressive résumé. Most workers in this country have to wait weeks between their first day on the job and the day their health insurance kicks in. Sometimes more.

According to the 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation annual survey of employer-provided health benefits, most workers would be lucky to start a new job in Harris' shoes.

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2012 elections

Early Look At 2012 Republican Presidential Primary Shows Tight Four-Way Race

Marc Kilstein | November 16, 2010, 3:53PM

Fmr. Governors Mitt Romney (R-MA), Mike Huckabee (R-AR), and Sarah Palin (R-AK), and Fmr. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Four Republicans have emerged as the clear early (err, very early) frontrunners in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, according to a recently concluded series of Public Policy Polling (D) surveys. The favorite of the bunch? Not so clear.

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Jim Clyburn

Details On Clyburn's New Leadership Role Still Murky

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 16, 2010, 3:16PM

James Clyburn and Steny Hoyer

A day before House Democrats are expected to vote current Majority Whip Jim Clyburn into a newly-created position in the leadership of their new minority, no one can really say what the new job will entail.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- expected to be elected Minority Leader in the next Congress at tomorrow's Democratic Caucus meeting -- averted a potentially nasty leadership fight between Clyburn and currently Majority Leader Steny Hoyer over the number two slot in the minority by creating a new number three job called "Assistant Leader" in the next Congress. Hoyer is expected to be elected the Democrats' number two -- also known as Minority Whip -- and Clyburn the caucus' Assistant Leader.

A Democratic caucus aide said today that the Assistant Leader slot will be created by renaming the current Assistant To The Leader position when the caucus meets tomorrow. The current job is occupied by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who is not expected to challenge Clyburn's bid for the position.

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Allen West

Allen West Doubles Down On Support Of Anti-Gov't Radio Host: Criticism Is 'Absolutely Reprehensible'

Jillian Rayfield | November 16, 2010, 1:57PM

Joyce Kaufman and Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL)

On ABC's Top Line today, Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL) doubled down on his support of his almost-chief of staff, right-wing talk radio host Joyce Kaufman. Kaufman backed out of the job after increased attention to her pro-insurgency rhetoric.

She's a "very brilliant political mind," West said today.

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Michael Steele

Top Steele Aide Quits, Blasts RNC's Leadership

Brian Beutler | November 16, 2010, 1:46PM

Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele

There is yet more trouble for Michael Steele.

This morning one of his top aides -- Gentry Collins -- resigned from his position as the RNC's political director in a four-page letter indicting Steele's leadership, according to Politico.

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Olympia Snowe

Republicans Defend Continued Tax Breaks For Millionaires (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | November 16, 2010, 1:25PM

Republicans from across the conservative spectrum are swatting down a proposal from Democrat Chuck Schumer to resolve the tax cut dispute by ending tax cuts to millionaires only.

"The answer is no," said Sen. John Thune (R-SC) -- the fourth ranking Republican in the Senate -- on Fox News last night. "What you want to do if you believe the best ways to grow jobs and to grow the economy in this country is to keep taxes low and to allow small businesses...to get out and do that, then the worst thing you can do is raise taxes on them, which, if you raise them on those higher-income levels is what happens.

Thune is a contender for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, and his position is reflective of the fact that he'll be guarding his right flank for the next many months.

Moderate Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), however, agrees with Thune.

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Jan Schakowsky

Schakowsky Unveils Progressive Deficit Reduction Plan

Brian Beutler | November 16, 2010, 1:07PM

Jan Schakowsky

A member of the White House's fiscal commission has released her own progressive plan for deficit reduction, after the commission's chairmen unveiled recommendations she vehemently opposes.

"Their proposal would have serious consequences for lower and middle class Americans, and that is why I cannot support it," says Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) in a statement. "I am releasing my own plan today because I believe that there is a better way to achieve our goal - one that protects the poor and the middle-class."

Her plan, which she claims would achieve fiscal balance by 2015, includes a host of ideas that were not included in the report released last week by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles. It makes provision for another $200 billion worth of stimulus to take the form of unemployment insurance extensions and additional aid to states.

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Republicans

Rep. Louie Gohmert: 'Yes We Can' Shut Down The Government (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | November 16, 2010, 1:04PM

Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX)

Rep. Louie Gohmert co-opted President Obama's old campaign slogan to talk about shutting down the government yesterday, saying that "if it takes a shutdown of government to stop the runaway spending, we owe that to our children."

"If you can't get it under control, then we just stop government 'til you realize, you know, 'yes we can,'" said Gohmert.

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Stephen Colbert

Colbert On Obama's Veterans Day Abroad: What Do You Have Against Veterans? (VIDEO)

David Taintor | November 16, 2010, 1:01PM

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert last night called into question President Barack Obama's patriotism, disappointed that he spent Veterans Day in South Korea -- with active-duty American troops, no less.

Read more »

Earmarks

Much Ado About Earmarks: What Will The GOP's Ban Actually Do?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 16, 2010, 12:50PM

Jim DeMint

Senate Republicans are expected to join their House colleagues in banning the time-honored practice of earmarking in a behind-closed-doors meeting later today. Much has been made in recent days of the proposed moratorium on porking up a Congressional spending bill with federally-funded goodies for your home state or district (or seeing to it that your constituents get their fair piece of the government money pie, depending on your point of view). The president wants earmarks gone. The tea party -- led by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) -- wants earmarks gone. And now, the Republicans want them gone, too.

But what will the GOP's proposed ban actually do?

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Olympia Snowe

Snowe May Be Flexible On Tax Cuts

Brian Beutler | November 16, 2010, 12:14PM

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

A key moderate Republican today indicated she might be open to the idea of a permanent extension of middle-income tax cuts, even if tax cuts on the top income brackets are only extended temporarily.

In response to questions from TPM, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) said she hasn't reached any conclusions about whether she might support such a compromise, but did acknowledge that she has no objection to the idea of a permanent tax cut for middle-class Americans.

"I don't know. I'm not prepared to say that at this point, frankly. I'd like to see all the tax rates extended for the time being, the next two or three years at the minimum probably, given where we are today," Snowe said.

Pressed, though, Snowe acknowledged that she has no objection to extending some of the tax cuts permanently.

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Earmarks

Anti-Earmark Bachmann Open To Earmark 'Redefinition' For Her District

Eric Lach | November 16, 2010, 11:38AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) hates earmarks. Despises them. On her website, she calls the earmark system "little more than a political favor factory at taxpayer expense." But when it comes to her own district, she's in favor of a little earmark "redefinition." Because what is an earmark, after all?

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Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart: McCain Spends A Year On DADT Repeal, Half An Hour On Running Mate (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | November 16, 2010, 11:28AM

Jon Stewart was not surprised last night that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) wants to spend a year studying the effects of a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal: "It's the maverick way -- spend a year studying whether soldiers deserve full civil rights, and a half an hour deciding who will be your presidential running mate."

But after even McCain's own wife participated in a NOH8 campaign public service announcement about the bullying LGBT people face, the Daily Show had to take action. So Wyatt Cenac, Jason Jones, John Oliver, and special guest Sean Hayes cut their own PSA modeled after the "It Gets Better Project," which is aimed at supporting gay and lesbian teens.

Called "It Gets Worse," the PSA tells McCain: "We know you're going through a tough time with this 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' thing - but trust us -- it gets worse."

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AK-SEN

Murkowski Pulls Ahead Of Miller In Alaska Vote Count

Jillian Rayfield | November 16, 2010, 10:28AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Joe Miller

In another setback for Republican Joe Miller's Alaska Senate campaign, write-in candidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski has pulled ahead by about 1,700 votes.

Murkowski launched her write-in campaign after losing the Republican primary to the tea party-backed Miller. Write-in candidates received 41% of the vote in the general election, which forced a count of the ballots to see how many were for Murkowski.

She now leads with about 92,000 votes, but that includes roughly 7,600 votes that were challenged by the Miller campaign.

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Barack Obama

Gingrich: Obama Should Take Most Of December Off (VIDEO)

David Taintor | November 16, 2010, 9:51AM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Former House Speaker and possible Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has some advice for President Barack Obama: take most of the rest of the year off.

Gingrich, speaking to the Christian Broadcasting Network, reflected on the time former presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush spent away from the White House, saying it would be healthy for Obama to slow down and do the same.

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AK-SEN

Lisa Murkowski Says Sarah Palin Is No Leader, Lacks 'Intellectual Curiosity' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | November 16, 2010, 9:25AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) doesn't have much faith in Sarah Palin's ability to be president, and said as much to known Palin nemesis Katie Couric on CBS last night. "I just do not think that she has those leadership qualities, that intellectual curiosity that allows for building good and great policies," Murkowski said. She added: "I don't think that she enjoyed governing."

"She would not be my choice for president," Murkowski said.

Read more »

2010 elections

Seven House Races Still Undecided

Marc Kilstein | November 16, 2010, 8:46AM

Reps. Melissa Bean (D-IL), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Solomon P. Ortiz (D-TX) and Dan Maffei (D-NY)

Election season isn't finished quite yet. As of today, there remain seven House races that are still in dispute, one impending gubernatorial recount, and one messy Senate write-in fight.

So far, the partisan makeup of the new House is 238 Republicans versus 190 Democrats, with seven seats still up for grabs. All seven of the House seats that remain in question are held by Democrats; five of the contests are currently led by Republican challengers. The uncalled districts are:

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2010 elections

Freshman GOPer: Hey, Where's My Health Care?

Josh Marshall | November 15, 2010, 11:14PM

Maryland physician Andy Harris (R) just soundly defeated Frank Kratovil, one of the most endangered Democrats on Capitol Hill going into the November election. And he did it in large part by railing against 'Obamacare' and pledging to repeal Health Care Reform. But when he showed on Capitol Hill today for an orientation for incoming members of Congress and their staffs, he had a different question: Where's my government health care?

Read more »

John Cornyn

Cornyn Likely To Head NRSC

Brian Beutler | November 15, 2010, 6:22PM

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) will run, likely uncontested, to head the Senate Republicans' campaign committee next year.

According to CNN, Cornyn has already secured the support of incoming, Tea Party-backed GOP senators, despite facing criticism from conservatives that he did not do enough to promote the candidacies of several losing Republican nominees.

The GOP will hold their leadership elections, including their new NRSC chairman, behind closed doors tomorrow.

Deficit

CBS Poll: Most Americans Don't Care That Much About The Deficit

Jillian Rayfield | November 15, 2010, 5:57PM

President Obama meets with the leaders of his bipartisan debt commission, Democrat Erskine Bowles, on left, and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, on right.

For all the recent frenzy over reducing the deficit, a new poll by CBS News shows that only 4% of Americans consider it the biggest problem faced by the country.

Read more »

Earmarks

Obama Hails McConnell's Decision To Back Earmark Moratorium

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 15, 2010, 5:48PM

President Obama

Who said bipartisanship was hard? President Obama and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have already found something to agree on in the next Congress, weeks before it convenes for the first time. In a statement released by the White House afternoon, Obama praised McConnell's decision to cave to tea party demands and back an earmark ban in the Republican Senate caucus next year.

"I welcome Senator McConnell's decision to join me and members of both parties who support cracking down on wasteful earmark spending, which we can't afford during these tough economic times," Obama said.

The president has been trying to tamp down the use of earmarks for awhile now, and he used the occasion of the Republican Senate leader and noted earmarker McConnell's change of heart on the topic to call on members of his own party to give up earmarking, too.

"In the days and weeks to come, I look forward to working with Democrats and Republicans to not only end earmark spending, but to find other ways to bring down our deficits for our children," Obama said.

Read more »

Harry Reid

Reid Tasks Schumer With Top Dem Messaging Job

Brian Beutler | November 15, 2010, 4:43PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)

In a sign that Democrats hope to do a better job claiming credit for their accomplishments, and emphasizing the differences between themselves and the GOP, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has merged the Senate Dems' policy and communications shops, and tasked Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) with chairing the new office as a member of party leadership.

Schumer has developed a reputation among his colleagues, and across Washington, as a shrewd political strategist and a master of message control.

In a letter to colleagues today, Reid cited those skills as the reason he's giving Schumer the job.

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John Boehner

C-SPAN Asks Boehner For More Cameras In The House

David Taintor | November 15, 2010, 3:56PM

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)

As Congress prepares to transition into its 112th session, C-SPAN is again pressing the House to allow its own cameras to cover floor debates.

Currently, the cameras used to cover House floor debates are owned and operated by Congress. Under the House rules, wide shots and reactionary shots are prohibited. Media outlets must rely on the feed provided by Congress. But C-SPAN argues that allowing its own cameras to televise floor debates would result in a more open, transparent government.

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Earmarks

McConnell Caves On Earmarks, Pledges To Vote For Moratorium

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 15, 2010, 2:36PM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Chalk up one win for the tea party movement over the establishment. In a speech on the Senate floor just now, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he'll be voting for the Republican moratorium on earmarks pushed by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and many incoming tea party freshmen.

"Nearly every day that the Senate's been in session for the past two years, I've come down to this very spot, and said that Democrats were ignoring the wishes of the American people," McConnell said. "When it comes to earmarks, I won't be guilty of the same thing."

Read more »

Earmarks

DeMint Says He's Got The Votes To Ban Earmarks In The Senate GOP

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 15, 2010, 2:07PM

Jim DeMint

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), the defacto leader of the tea party-fueled movement to ban earmarking by Republican Senators in the next Congress, says he's got the votes to pass a moratorium when the incoming caucus meets for the first time tomorrow.

"We probably have the edge by a vote or two," DeMint told reporters on a conference call sponsored by the Heritage Foundation this morning. He credited the incoming freshman class -- which includes vehement anti-earmarkers like Mike Lee (UT) and Rand Paul (KY) -- with providing the extra votes needed to pass a moratorium over the wishes of caucus leader Mitch McConnell.

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Michael Steele

RNC Member: Don't Count Michael Steele Out Yet

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 15, 2010, 1:37PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Several media reports suggest the vultures are circling Michael Steele's Republican National Committee chairmanship. But it's not quite over yet, according to one voting member of the Republican National Committee who says he's supporting Steele. That member laid out Steele's path to victory in a phone interview with TPM this morning.

David Lewis is a four-term North Carolina state Representative and a voting member of his state's RNC delegation. Along with the rest of the 168 voting members of the RNC, Lewis will cast his vote in January to elect the party's next chairman. And at this point, he says Steele's still the man to beat -- and the candidate who has his vote.

"This race is not played out in the press," Lewis said. "I'd be confident to say [Steele] has 100 votes."

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Bush Tax Cuts

Progressives Press -- Lightly -- For Ending Tax Cuts For Wealthy

Brian Beutler | November 15, 2010, 12:54PM

Nancy Pelosi

Leading House progressives are joining outside advocates to pressure Democratic leaders to let the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans to expire at the end of the year.

In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Progressive Caucus co-chairs Lynn Woolsey and Raul Grijalva gently make the case for extending tax cuts to middle-income brackets alone.

As Co-Chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, we would like to reiterate our support for President Obama's Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposal that would extend the Bush tax rates for the middle class, but permit the tax levels to return to previous levels for single taxpayers making more than $200,000 or married couples making more than $250,000," the co-chairs write. "We respectfully request that we have a Caucus discussion regarding our position before any proposal is brought to the Floor.

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Barack Obama

Silver Lining: Why Dems' Big Loss Could Pave The Way For Obama Nominees

Brian Beutler | November 15, 2010, 11:43AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and President Barack Obama

Dems have little reason to be happy about this month's election results. Gone for at least two years -- and probably more -- are their hopes of passing anything like the historic legislation they enacted during this Congress. Additionally starting next year they will have to contend with ascendant adversaries in the House, bent on unraveling those accomplishments and embarrassing President Obama with aggressive use of subpoena power.

But Democrats still control the Senate. So while the House passes legislation the Senate has no interest in considering, Majority Leader Harry Reid will have much more time, if he chooses, to devote to confirming a large backlog of Obama's judicial and executive branch nominees -- particularly numerous non-controversial picks, who will have to be renominated next year.

That's certainly what advocates would like to see.

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Eric Cantor

Cantor Spox Clarifies 'Check' Comments GOPer Made To Netanyahu

Eric Lach | November 15, 2010, 11:20AM

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Rep. Eric Cantor's office is clarifying a statement it put out last week about the meeting between Cantor, the likely next House Majority Leader, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Cantor spokesperson Brad Dayspring told The Washington Post that Cantor's comment to Netanyahu that the new Republican majority in the house 'will serve as a check on the Administration' was 'not in relation to U.S./Israel relations.'

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Democrats

What To Expect From The Lame Duck Senate This Week (Hint: Not Much)

Brian Beutler | November 15, 2010, 11:00AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Charles Schumer (D-NY)

Lame duck session begins today -- time for Democrats to squeeze through as much of their remaining agenda items as they can while they still enjoy large majorities, right?

Maybe eventually. The lame duck session could last until Christmas. But for now, Congress will only be in session for a few days before adjourning for a brief Thanksgiving recess. In that time the Senate plans to address -- or attempt to address -- three issues, leaving most of the big ticket items to be dealt with in December.

On Wednesday, the Senate will attempt to end filibusters on three pieces of legislation: one to promote natural gas and electric vehicles; one to close the pay gap between men and women; and food safety legislation third to enhance federal inspection and recall authority.

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AK-SEN

Joe Miller Still Confident He Can Win -- His Lawyers, Not So Much

Jillian Rayfield | November 15, 2010, 10:00AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Joe Miller

Republican Joe Miller is still confident about his lead in uncontested write-in ballots in the Alaska Senate race against Sen. Lisa Murkowski, despite Murkowski's steady gains since the count started five days ago. "If current trends hold, Miller and Murkowski will likely end up in a dead heat in the uncontested ballot count," the Miller campaign said in a press release.

But even if his lead among the uncontested ballots gives Miller hope, the departure of half of his legal team from Juneau over the weekend could be a sign that the Miller team thinks a lawsuit over contested ballots will be unnecessary, and that Murkowski will win outright with uncontested ballots.

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AK-SEN

Joe Miller's New Advisor: Birther, Citizens United Founder, 'Willie Horton' Ad Mastermind

Jillian Rayfield | November 15, 2010, 8:44AM

Floyd Brown and Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller (R)

Joe Miller has a new advisor to help him with his war on spelling in the Alaska Senate write-in count -- and it's Floyd Brown, the infamous conservative strategist behind the "Willie Horton" TV ad in the 1988 presidential campaign, the co-founder of Citizens United and the birther-friendly blogger.

Miller beat Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary, but now appears to trail her write-in campaign in the general election. Write-in ballots are currently being examined to see how many are for Murkowski.

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Rand Paul

Rand Paul: Obama Sent 'Wrong Signal' To Biz During BP Spill (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 14, 2010, 2:18PM

KY-SEN candidate Rand Paul (R)

Sen.-elect Rand Paul (R-KY) is not backing down from his claim that President Obama was too hard on BP back during this summer's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On the campaign trail in March, Paul took heat for his statement that Obama's rhetoric toward the energy giant in the wake of the disaster off the Louisiana coast was "un-American." In what appear to be his first public comments about the spill since being handily elected Kentucky's new Senator, Paul took a similar line to the one he did as a candidate.

"I didn't like the language," Paul said in an interview on CBS' Face The Nation this morning. "I didn't think the president or his people should say something like 'putting a boot heel on the throat' of a business. I didn't like that."

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Tea Party Patriots

Tea Party Fail: Patriots' Conspiracy Theory Leads To Mass Calling Of Reps' Personal Cell Phones

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 14, 2010, 10:07AM

9/12 Tea Party Rally

On Friday, the Tea Party Patriots lived up to just about every stereotype about the movement that its critics have about the tea party insurgency. In a single email, the Patriots acted paranoid, attacked fellow conservatives, alienated Republicans, sounded unhinged, got their facts wrong and had to sheepishly apologize to all involved. They also dished out the personal cell phone numbers of many incoming freshmen -- leading to a bombardment of calls from angry tea partiers.

Truly, it was a spectacular thing to behold. Suffice to say, it was probably not the way the tea party hoped to roll into DC.

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