AK-SEN

Joe Miller Ends Legal Challenge To Murkowski's Write-In Victory

Eric Kleefeld | December 31, 2010, 7:04PM

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

Alaska Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller, the Tea Party-backed (and Sarah Palin-backed) insurgent who defeated incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary, only to then lose to Murkowski's write-in campaign for the general election, has now announced that he is ending his legal challenge to Murkowski's victory -- effectively conceding the race and ending the 2010 election right on New Year's Eve.

As the Anchorage Daily News reports:

Miller thanked his supporters and said the time has come to accept the "practical realities" of court decisions that have been unanimous in ruling against his challenge. He said he would remain a voice for smaller government, less federal spending and other issues favored by the tea party.

...

Miller, a self-proclaimed expert in Constitutional law, had his challenges to Murkowski's election thrown out by an Alaska Superior Court judge from Ketchikan, a unanimous Alaska Supreme Court, and a U.S. District Court judge in Anchorage. The federal judge, Ralph Beistline, said the case against Miller was so overwhelming that he ruled before the state even filed all its arguments opposing Miller's claims.

2010 elections

TPM Approves These Messages: Five Great Ads Of 2010 (VIDEOS)

Eric Kleefeld | December 31, 2010, 3:07PM

With the year 2010 coming to a close, and a truly raucous election season behind us (and another set to begin), let's take a look at a real highlight of the cycle: A sampling, even just a small one, of some great campaign ads we got to see over the past year.

Unlike some of our other lists, we're not talking about a mix of great ads and awful ones that took on a kitsch value. (I'm looking in your direction, "I'm not a witch. I'm you," and also at you, "Aqua Buddha.")

No, here we're talking about truly great ads that applied ingenuity, creativity and pure guts to an election. We're talking about the ones whose creators deserve accolades and good spots on campaigns for 2012 -- and might just get them.

So get out your popcorn and your New Year's alcohol, and watch our five picks.

Read more »

2010 elections

The Goodbyes Of 2010: Politicians Who Are Going Home

Eric Kleefeld | December 31, 2010, 1:52PM

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)

As the year 2010 comes to a close and the year 2011 begins, it's time to look back on some of the politicians who are leaving office because of defeat, retirement, or the strange spaces that seem to fall in between.

These are folks who had a presence on the political scene, either long or short, but who have made their marks in different ways on the political consciousness in their arrivals, their service and their ultimate departures.

As is the fashion with these sorts of lists we do around here, the folks we've chosen to highlight include the folks that we and you, our readers, think of as being great -- and others who are so bad that they're good. Of course, there are plenty of departing pols who aren't here. This is just a sampling.

So goodbye to 2010, and goodbye to these politicians. But who knows, perhaps we'll be seeing some of them again, soon.

Read more »

Health Care

Major Health Care Reforms Take Effect January 1

Brian Beutler | December 31, 2010, 11:39AM

President Barack Obama

Starting Saturday, two of the new health care law's most significant reforms take effect -- or at least begin to take effect.

The first will dramatically clamp down on insurance industry waste, abuse, and excesses. Starting on New Year's Day, insurance companies will have to spend at least 80 percent of the revenues they receive from premiums on actual health care. Not on salaries or overhead.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

NC GOPer Rips Sen. Burr For 'Endorsing Immorality' With DADT Vote

Eric Lach | December 31, 2010, 10:36AM

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr's vote to repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' isn't sitting well with some fellow Republicans back in his home state, even as one prominent local Democrat plans to thank him in writing.

Read more »

RNC

With Priebus Surging, Is Michael Steele Heading For A Big Loss?

Eric Kleefeld | December 31, 2010, 8:54AM

The race for the Republican National Committee chairmanship is heating up -- with Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus now having emerged as the frontrunner to defeat the incumbent Chairman Michael Steele.

The next big event to watch is this Monday, January 3, when the candidates will meet for a debate hosted by Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform.

In many ways, it seems odd that Steele could very well lose, after a cycle in which the GOP made big gains in offices large and small. And if there's one thing we've learned about Steele, it's that he has an impressive ability to weather scandals and gaffes that would fell others. But now, after all those gaffes and scandals, his opponents are now striking back in the open at election time.

Steele faces a crowded field of challengers that includes: Priebus, a former Steele ally whose smashing success at painting his state red this year has helped him shoot to the top; former Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis (also a previous 2009 RNC candidate, and the first challenger to get in this time); former Bush Administration official Maria Cino (who has been endorsed by Dick Cheney); former Missouri GOP chair Ann Wagner; and to top it all off, former high-ranking Steele aide Gentry Collins.

Read more »

Filibuster Reform

The Senate's Long, Twisted, Bumpy Road To Filibuster Reform

Brian Beutler | December 31, 2010, 8:50AM

Vice President Biden

At some point on January 5, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) will take the Senate floor and begin a process that he hopes will end in the successful use of the "Constitutional option" -- the prerogative of a majority of the Senate's members to rewrite its rules on the first day of a new Congress.

He and his allies have been vocal about their plan. But the actual sequence of events that starts with him giving a speech, and ends with filibuster reform, is obscure, fragile, and extremely complicated. In fact, it's so involved that the "first day" of the 112th Senate could actually last for weeks.

There are myriad unknowns and X-factors that could change the course of events, and even upend Udall's ambitions altogether. But what follows is a list of steps he and the Senate will have to take to succeed in exercising the "Constitutional option," so called because the Constitution empowers the Senate to write its own rules.

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Gold

Georgia GOPer Pushes Bill For Taxes To Be Paid In Gold And Silver

Jillian Rayfield | December 31, 2010, 8:45AM

TPM Illustration

Georgia state Rep. Bobby Franklin (R) has sponsored legislation to force the state to conduct all monetary transactions with U.S. gold or silver coins.

Read more »

Sharron Angle

One Crazy Year: 2010's Most Outrageous Breakout Pols (VIDEOS)

Jillian Rayfield | December 31, 2010, 8:34AM

Though every year brings head-scratching remarks from out-of-the-woodwork politicians, 2010 saw those politicians gaining a national platform to broadcast their head-scratchingest views, thanks to the midterm elections.

Here are five of the most outrageous pols who broke out in 2010...

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AK-SEN

Lisa Murkowski Certified As Winner In Alaska Senate Race

Jillian Rayfield | December 30, 2010, 3:32PM

The state of Alaska has certified Sen. Lisa Murkowski as the winner of the 2010 Senate race, following an almost two-month long court challenge by her opponent, Republican Joe Miller.

Read more »

Fox News

Keith Olbermann: 'Fox News Is 100% Bullsh*t'

Jon Terbush | December 30, 2010, 1:14PM

Keith Olbermann

It's well known that MSNBC's Keith Olbermann really hates Fox News, the right-leaning cable news network he often attacks on his own nightly show. But last night, Olbermann encapsulated his loathing in perhaps his most concise criticism yet, taking to Twitter to declare that "Fox News is 100% bullshit."

Then he said it again. And again.

Olbermann's Internet assault began when another Twitter user questioned his support for the liberal blog DailyKos despite his frequent disparagement of Fox News for its overt bias. To that, Olbermman unleashed the first tweet in his salvo:

Read more »

Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: 'Snotty' Gore Vidal Novel Turned Me Republican! (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 30, 2010, 12:54PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and author Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal, what have you done?

At a speech to Michigan Republicans on Tuesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) -- the darling of the Tea Party right -- told an amazing story about how she shed her youthful Democratic roots and became a Republican. As she told the tale, her political conversion was because of her disgust at a "snotty" Gore Vidal novel that satirized the Founding Fathers.

"Until I was reading this snotty novel called 'Burr,' by Gore Vidal, and read how he mocked our Founding Fathers," Bachmann told the crowd. "And as a reasonable, decent, fair-minded person who happened to be a Democrat, I thought, 'You know what? What he's writing about, this mocking of people that I revere, and the country that I love, and that I would lay my life down to defend -- just like every one of you in this room would, and as many of you in this room have when you wore the uniform of this great country -- I knew that that was not representative of my country."

"And at that point I put the book down and I laughed. I was riding a train. I looked out the window and I said, 'You know what? I think I must be a Republican. I don't think I'm a Democrat.'"

Read more »

Filibuster

How Harry Reid And Mitch McConnell Could Upend Filibuster Reform

Brian Beutler | December 30, 2010, 12:10PM

A handful of junior Democrats, including Sens. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), have done an impressive job building momentum for a package of modest, but meaningful, changes to the Senate's filibuster rules. But their plan could be completely upended and replaced by even more modest reforms, if Democratic and Republican leaders successfully negotiate a bipartisan rules reform compromise.

In a phone interview with me Wednesday, Udall described negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) as a "separate track" from his own efforts.

A Senate Democratic aide confirms that those discussions are ongoing, and haven't yet yielded consensus. But if they do, that consensus would serve as a stand-in for Udall's approach, not as an endorsement of it, as previous reporting has suggested.

Read more »

Barack Obama

Poll: Support For Obama's Policies Down Since Last Year

Jon Terbush | December 30, 2010, 11:05AM

President Barack Obama

As the Democratic Party looks to recover from the midterm shellacking, a new CNN poll found that support for Obama's policies has dipped 10 percentage points over the past year. Yet despite the sharp drop, a majority of Americans still support the President's policies.

In the poll, 61% percent of respondents said they hoped Obama's policies would succeed, while 27% said they hoped his policies would fail. Last year, CNN pegged that split at 71% to 22%.

The poll asked:

In general, do you hope that Barack Obama's policies will succeed or do you hope that his policies will fail?

Read more »

Death Panels

Wall Street Journal: We LOVE Death Panels!

Brian Beutler | December 30, 2010, 9:25AM

Former VP candidate Sarah Palin (R)

Rupert Murdoch needs to pay a visit to Rupert Murdoch to make sure the two are on the same page about Death Panels. Because while Murdoch's Fox News Channel is firing away at a new Medicare regulation allowing doctors to be reimbursed for providing end-of-life counseling, Murdoch's Wall Street Journal thinks it's a great idea!

"[T]he substance is more than defensible," the Journal's editors opined yesterday. "Certain quarters on the political right are following the media's imagination and blasting Dr. Berwick's decision as the tangible institution of death panels. But the rule-making is not coercive and gives seniors more autonomy, not less.... Advance care planning lays out the options and allows patients, in consultation with their providers and family members, to ensure that their future treatment is consistent with their wishes and moral values should they become too sick to decide for themselves."

They go on to do some hand-waving to exonerate Sarah Palin and other provocateurs from the charge that they equated this policy with Death Panels. But that's what they did.

The question is: Now that the Wall Street Journal has given this new regulation the thumbs up, will other conservatives and Republicans quiet down about it? I didn't think so.

Tom Udall

Paging Mr. Smith! How The Senate May Return To The Old-School Filibuster

Brian Beutler | December 30, 2010, 8:30AM

Still from "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" (1939)

On January 5, 2011 -- the first day of the 112th Congress -- Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) will touch off a long debate, which he hopes will result in a majority-rules vote on a package of meaningful changes to the Senate rules. After a series of private conversations with Democratic members, he and his allies have settled upon a framework including three distinct reforms designed to unclog the Senate and scale back the minority's power.

The consensus package will aim to put an end to "secret holds" (anonymous filibuster threats) and disallow the minority from blocking debate on an issue altogether. Those two reforms are fairly straightforward. The third is a bit more complex. Udall, along with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), say there's broad agreement on the idea to force old-school filibusters. If members want to keep debating a bill, they'll have to actually talk. No more lazy filibusters.

But how would that actually work? In an interview Wednesday, Udall explained the ins and outs of that particular proposal.

Read more »

Tea Party Nation

Tea Party Nation Names DHS, NAACP Among 2010's 'Liberal Hate Groups'

Jillian Rayfield | December 30, 2010, 8:26AM

Judson Phillips, leader of Tea Party Nation.

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips put out a list yesterday of the "top five liberal hate groups," because "while the Left loves to accuse the Tea Party and Conservatives to be members of hate groups [sic], the simple fact is, there are a lot of liberal hate groups." And who made the cut for the top five? The NAACP, the Department of Homeland Security, the ACLU, the SEIU, and of course, the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Read more »

2012 elections

DeMint: Palin Has Done More For GOP Than Anyone Since Reagan

Jon Terbush | December 29, 2010, 5:30PM

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) had some kind words for another champion of the far right in a recent interview with Politico.

In assessing the potential field of candidates for the Republican party's 2012 presidential nomination, DeMint said that Sarah Palin has, "done more for the Republican Party than anyone since Ronald Reagan."

However, despite the high praise for the half-term Alaska Governor turned conservative commentator, DeMint said he has yet to decide which candidate he'll endorse to represent the party in 2012. DeMint, who endorsed Mitt Romney in 2008, also said that he has never actually spoken to Palin, though she "left me a nice message."

Prospective GOP presidential candidates are already jockeying for support from influential politicians ahead of the primary elections. DeMint in particular is seen as a potentially crucial supporter due to his sway with the Tea Party. His 2010 reelection campaign received $7,500 from Palin, $5,000 from Romney, $8,000 from Sen. John Thune (R-SD), $3,000 from Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and $1,000 former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), even though DeMint faced no serious challenge from the hapless Alvin Greene.

Read more »

Redistricting

Kucinich To Supporters: Where Will I Run If My District Is Eliminated?

Eric Kleefeld | December 29, 2010, 4:38PM

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), the staunch progressive and two-time presidential candidate, is now sounding the alarm to his supporters: He may have to run in a completely different district.

As a result of the post-Census reapportionment, Ohio has lost two House seats, going down from 18 districts to 16. And as such, it's widely believed that Kucinich's seat could be chopped up -- ironically, Kucinich's political real estate could be redistributed among his neighbors by Ohio's Republican legislators. As he writes in an e-mail to his supporters:

I will not wait until the Ohio Legislature produces a new map to start thinking of the options. The question will not be: Who is my opponent? The question will be: Where is my district? Seriously.

We are going to have to prepare for a different kind of election, possibly in a different place because my district may be eliminated. We are going to have to organize in a different way, now. The question will remain: Where?

(Via CNN.)

Death Panels

Fox News: Are Death Panels Back? Death Panels Are Back!

Jillian Rayfield | December 29, 2010, 2:30PM

Fox News was all about "death panels" this week. No, it's not 2009.

Read more »

NJ-GOV

Report: New Jersey Lt. Gov. Was Out Of State During Snowstorm Due To Family Illness

Eric Kleefeld | December 29, 2010, 1:54PM

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R)

Some more information has come to light on the simultaneous absence in New Jersey of both Gov. Chris Christie (R) and his Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno (R), during a crippling snowstorm that was ultimately managed by the Democratic state Senate President. As it turns out, Guadagno reportedly had a family-related reason to be gone.

As the Camden Courier-Post reports:

Sources in both the State House and the governor's office said Guadagno's family was spending time with her father, who has Stage IV cancer. The sources did not want to speak publicly about a private matter.

This would appear to shift more of the blame to Christie, rather than Guadagno, in terms of the complaints about both of them being out of the state during a very serious snowstorm. After all, for her part Guadagno appears to have a very good reason to be absent.

Read more »

2010 elections

Top Five Political Catch Phrases Of 2010

Brian Beutler | December 29, 2010, 12:45PM

Sarah Palin

A big part of politics is coming up with catchy slogans and phrases so that voters draw conclusions that help your party. They run the gamut from Barack Obama's "Yes we can!" to Sarah Palin's "death panels."

The flipside of that is that you have to avoid saddling yourself with unflattering slogans and catch phrases. A bad gaffe will stick to a politician like flypaper -- sometimes for years. These buzzwords and catchphrases bubble up into the political discourse all the time. Most of them dissipate harmlessly, but a few attach themselves to their subjects like stink on, well, chickencrap.

Here's our list of the top five political catch phrases of 2010 -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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Tim Pawlenty

Pawlenty Entrusts His Oversized 'Veto Pen' To Historical Society

Eric Lach | December 29, 2010, 12:21PM

Outgoing Minnesota Governor and presumed presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty (R) turned over documents and artifacts from his administration to the Minnesota Historical Society this week, including a giant novelty "veto pen."

Read more »

Andy Harris

GOPer Who Whined About Gov't Health Care Denied Committee Assignment

Brian Beutler | December 29, 2010, 9:31AM

Rep.-elect Andy Harris (R-MD)

Karma's something something.

Remember Rep.-elect Andy Harris (R-MD)? The anti-health care reform physician who got a heap of bad publicity when he made a fuss about having to wait a few weeks until his employer- (a.k.a. government-) provided health care kicked in? And who asked whether the government had a... public option, of sorts, from which he could buy insurance in the interim?

Turns out hubris has consequences.

According to The Daily Times, "The Maryland Republican didn't get his top choice for a committee assignment, the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over public health issues."

Read more »

AK-SEN

Federal Judge Throws Out Joe Miller's AK-SEN Lawsuit -- Murkowski To Be Certified

Jillian Rayfield | December 29, 2010, 9:04AM

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

A federal judge has dismissed Joe Miller's lawsuit over the Alaska Senate race, and has lifted his block on Lisa Murkowski's certification to her Senate seat.

Read more »

Lamar Smith

White House Signals Intent To Work With GOP On Their Immigration Ideas

Jillian Rayfield | December 29, 2010, 8:45AM

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TN)

Immigration groups eager to see reform might not have been happy with Rep. Lamar Smith's (R-TX) proposal to expand the E-Verify program, but they're unlikely to be any more pleased with the White House's response to it. President Obama has previously expressed support for the program, and the White House today left open the possibility of working to achieve Smith's vision.

Read more »

Gay Marriage

Iowa GOPer Branstad: Impeach Justices For Gay Marriage? I Have No Role In That

Eric Kleefeld | December 29, 2010, 8:45AM

Gov.-elect Terry Branstad (R-IA)

Gov.-elect Terry Branstad (R-IA), who will be leading the critical first presidential caucus state, is not commenting on the hot-button issue of whether the state Supreme Court justices who legalized same sex marriage in his state should be impeached -- after he'd previously urged the legislature in strong terms to pass a constitutional amendment undoing the decision.

This past November, Iowa voters removed three state Supreme Court justices who had faced up-or-down retention elections, and who were heavily targeted by conservatives for their role in the unanimous 2009 ruling that legalized same marriage in the state. Now, as we've reported, some of the incoming Republican legislators would like to impeach the remaining four justices.

Read more »

CPAC

Right-Wing Groups Pull Out Of CPAC Because Gay Group Will Be There

Eric Kleefeld | December 28, 2010, 4:03PM

Ryan Sorba at CPAC 2010

The feuding on the right continues over the gay conservative group GOProud, with two more social conservative groups announcing that they won't attend the big Conservative Political Action Conference this February -- in part because the gay group is participating.

As the right-wing World Net Daily reports:

"We've been very involved in CPAC for over a decade and have managed a couple of popular sessions. However, we will no longer be involved with CPAC because of the organization's financial mismanagement and movement away from conservative principles," said Tom McClusky, senior vice president for FRC Action.

"CWA [Concerned Women for America] has decided not to participate in part because of GOProud," CWA President Penny Nance told WND. [Ed. note: Penny Nance's title is chief executive officer of CWA. Another individual, Wendy Wright, holds the title of president.]

Read more »

Death Panels

GOP Could Force Vote On 'Death Panels'

Brian Beutler | December 28, 2010, 12:55PM

President Barack Obama

Republicans could turn the cooked-up controversy over end-of-life counseling into a "Death Panel" vote next year.

If they fully embrace their new strategy, outlined here, Republicans could cherry pick politically-charged executive branch regulations and put vulnerable Democrats, particularly in the Senate, in a bind: vote for regulations that are unpopular with their constituents; or rebuke President Obama as he attempts to govern from the White House.

One of those regulations -- scheduled to take effect January 1 -- would achieve the Obama administration's goal of encouraging end-of-life planning. It works by paying Medicare doctors for counseling patients with terminal illness on their medical options -- including advance directives compelling doctors and families to forgo certain medical interventions like feeding tubes, IV fluids or respirators. Obama and congressional Democrats tried to include these incentives in their health care law, but were forced to nix it after Sarah Palin and other Republicans started referring to the provisions as "death panels" that could "pull the plug on grandma."

Read more »

Barney Frank

Barney Frank: NATO 'Serves No Strategic Purpose'

Eric Lach | December 28, 2010, 12:37PM

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Amid all the talk about spending cuts for unemployment benefits, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has a counter proposal: cut NATO spending. The congressman told The Huffington Post that defense spending needs to be included in the discussion about spending cuts, and argued that the liberal community should focus specifically on NATO spending as an issue. The Democrat went so far as to question NATO's value.

Read more »

CNN

Poll: Individual Coverage Mandate Least Popular Part of Health Care Law

Jon Terbush | December 28, 2010, 12:24PM

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R)

The health care bill that passed earlier this year continues to be a divisive and generally unpopular piece of legislation as a whole. But a CNN poll out today indicates that the broad unpopularity may in part be due to just one of the bill's provisions -- the individual mandate.

When asked specifically about three major provisions contained in the health care law, only the one requiring all Americans to have health insurance was opposed by a majority of respondents to the poll. Thirty-eight percent said they supported that provision, versus 60% who were opposed.

By contrast, 61% of respondents were in favor of preventing insurance providers from dropping coverage for patients who become seriously ill, versus 39% who opposed that piece of the bill. Respondents were also in favor of the provision preventing insurers from denying coverage for preexisting conditions by a 29 point margin, 64%-35%.

Yet despite the overwhelming support for two of the three provisions presented in the poll, 54% of respondents said they had a generally unfavorable opinion of the law as a whole, while 43% had a favorable opinion. That seems to suggest that while Americans largely favor pieces of the health care overhaul, their skepticism of the individual mandate trumps their support for those other reforms.

Read more »

John Bolton

John Bolton: START Treaty Fight 'Was Worth It' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 28, 2010, 11:16AM

Fmr. UN Amb. John Bolton

John Bolton, the former Bush administration Ambassador to the United Nations who has seemingly been testing the waters for a possible presidential candidacy, is now saying that the Senate GOP leadership's unsuccessful fight against the START nuclear arms treaty with Russia was a good thing politically -- even though the treaty was ratified.

Bolton appeared last night on Sean Hannity's Fox News show, with Tucker Carlson sitting in the host seat.

"But let's be clear. I think that this fight was worth it, even though the treaty was ratified," said Bolton, "because I think, people are now well aware of the driven ideology of this administration, to reduce our nuclear capabilities, which I think they now understand will endanger us and our friends and allies going forward."

Read more »

Tax Cuts

New GOP House Rules Pave The Way For More Tax Cuts, Deficits

Brian Beutler | December 28, 2010, 10:36AM

House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)

In 2007, just weeks after Republicans lost control of the House and Senate and six years after the first passel of Bush tax cuts were signed into law, Democrats made a key change to the budget rules to prevent that episode from repeating itself.

Republicans had used the budget reconciliation process -- immune from a filibuster -- to pass the cuts and explode the deficit: two things the reconciliation process was never meant to allow. To get away with it, Republicans were forced to include a 10-year sunset in package -- planting the seeds for the tax cut fight we just saw on Capitol Hill. After Dems wrested control of Congress, they banned the reconciliation loopholes used by the GOP altogether.

But as they return to power in the House of Representatives, Republicans are taking steps to unravel those changes.

Read more »

New Jersey

NJ's Christie & Lt. Gov. Leave Dem In Charge During Snowstorm

Eric Kleefeld | December 28, 2010, 8:20AM

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R)

A funny thing is going on in New Jersey. The state's response to the massive snowstorm is being overseen by Democratic state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, in the role of Acting Governor -- because both Republican Gov. Chris Christie and his Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno are vacationing out of state at the same time.

Until this past year, New Jersey did not actually have a lieutenant governor, with the state Senate President taking over in case of a vacancy or temporary absence of the governor. In 2005, New Jersey voters approved a ballot question to create the office of lieutenant governor, with it being filled by the victory of the Christie-Guadagno ticket in 2009.

But in the midst of the snowstorm, Christie is on vacation with his family at Disney World in Florida, and Guadagno and her family are in Mexico.

Read more »

Barack Obama

White House Pushing Back Against Revived Chatter About End-Of-Life Planning

Jillian Rayfield | December 27, 2010, 5:05PM

Pres. Barack Obama (D)

The White House is denying that a new Medicare regulation revives language dropped from the health care reform bill that covered voluntary end-of-life planning sessions between doctors and patients.

The policy was removed from the health care bill after Republicans and right-wing opponents of the bill construed the provision as creating "death panels" for old people.

Read more »

John Bolton

Bolton: America Can't Cut Defense Spending To Reduce The Deficit (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | December 27, 2010, 3:48PM

Fmr. UN Amb. John Bolton

If you use John Bolton as a barometer for whether or not Republicans will be willing to cut defense spending to help reduce the deficit, then the answer is: No!

"Can American cut its defense spending in a meaningful way?" Fox Business asked Bolton.

"I don't think so," he said.

Read more »

Health Care

GOP Turns To K Street Veterans To Help Unravel Health Care Law

Brian Beutler | December 27, 2010, 2:53PM

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) with members of the GOP leadership

House Republicans are turning to old friends on K Street to lead their legislative attempts to repeal the new health care law.

Three recently hired Republican aides -- two set to work in senior positions on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, and one for soon-to-be Speaker John Boehner -- spent the past years lobbying on behalf of insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and other corporate interest groups with a vested interest in weakening or repealing the law.

Read more »

2012 elections

Thune To Visit GOP In Pawlenty's Home State Of Minnesota

Eric Kleefeld | December 27, 2010, 12:48PM

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN)

Sen. John Thune (R-SD), one of the many Republican politicians viewed as being a potential presidential candidate, is now set to make a trip to the stomping ground of another possible contender: Gov. Tim Pawlenty's home state of Minnesota.

As the Star Tribune reports, Thune will be headlining the Minnesota GOP's Lincoln Reagan dinner, this coming February 25.

Read more »

Tom Tancredo

Tom Tancredo Gets Own 'Tea Party' Radio Show

Eric Lach | December 27, 2010, 12:34PM

Tom Tancredo

Tom Tancredo will no longer need to depend on the whims of Fox News schedulers for opportunities to spout off on immigrants and terrorism. The inflammatory former Republican Congressman, fresh off a surprisingly close loss as a third-party candidate in Colorado's gubernatorial race, is getting his own radio show: 'Tea Party Radio with Tom Tancredo.'

Read more »

AK-SEN

Miller Won't Fight Murkowski Certification -- But Will Challenge In Federal Court

Jillian Rayfield | December 27, 2010, 12:07PM

Joe Miller and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Joe Miller says he won't object to the state certifying Sen. Lisa Murkowski's apparent victory in the Alaska Senate race -- but that's not going to stop him from continuing his election challenge in federal court.

Read more »

Barack Obama

Inside The GOP's Plan To Stifle Obama's Executive Branch Power

Brian Beutler | December 27, 2010, 11:00AM

Jim DeMint

In the nearly two months since the November midterms, the conventional wisdom has centered on the idea that President Obama's agenda will be largely protected from an influx of Republicans by the Senate's arcane rules and his own veto pen. With 47 members in the 112th Congress, the GOP will lack a majority, let alone a supermajority, to pass the legislation they'd need to pass to undo Obama's accomplishments and blunt his progress -- as if he'd sign those bills anyway.

But Republicans are all too aware of this conundrum, and have been looking for ways around it. What they found is an obscure authority provided by a 1996 law called the Congressional Review Act. It provides Congress with an expedited process by which to evaluate executive branch regulations, and then give the President a chance to agree or disagree.

House Republicans will have carte blanche next year, and will be able to pass as many of these "resolutions of disapproval" as they want. The key is that a small minority in the Senate can force votes on them as well, and they require only simple-majority support to pass. If they can find four conservative Democrats to vote with them on these resolutions, they can force Obama to serially veto politically potent measures to block unpopular regulations, and create a chilling effect on the federal agencies charged with writing them.

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2010 elections

Artur Davis: Southern Dems Should Think About Running As Independents

Eric Kleefeld | December 27, 2010, 10:59AM

Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL)

Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), who is leaving Congress after a failed run in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, has an interesting suggestion for moderate Democratic politicians in the wake of the party's near-total wipeout in the South: Forget the Dems, run as an independent.

As The Hill reports:

Southern voters "see the Democratic Party as a liberal institution that wants to spend their money recklessly, that doesn't honor their social values and that has a very different view of the world," said Alabama Rep. Artur Davis (D).

"It's hard for local Democratic candidates to break clear of that," Davis added. "Some [of those candidates] who are thinking about competing in the South may have to look at running as Independents."

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RNC

Race Recriminations Pop Up In RNC Election

Eric Kleefeld | December 27, 2010, 10:08AM

Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele

The Republican National Committee chairmanship race is on -- and so are the recriminations on race, Jonathan Martin reports.

When Steele officially launched his re-election bid earlier this month, he said of the contest: "Who you elect as our next Chairman will speak volumes about our willingness to truly be the party of Lincoln."

This line was immediately attacked by a Steele detractor, committeeman James Bopp of Indiana: "This is the threat he has made by playing the race card - he will smear the RNC by saying we are all racist by not voting for him."

Now Bopp is jousting with a Steele-supporter, Idaho GOP chairman and Steele-supporter Norm Semanko, who is calling the blanket anybody-but-Steele campaign launched by Bopp and others "hateful."

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Tom Coburn

Coburn: There Will Be 'Apocalyptic Pain' If We Don't Cut Spending (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | December 27, 2010, 9:48AM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) amped up his rhetoric on the dangers of government spending and debt yesterday, telling host Chris Wallace, "I told you the other evening, if we didn't take some pain now, we're going to experience apocalyptic pain."

Coburn was on Fox News Sunday, and Wallace described him as something of an "alarmist" when it comes to the debt and federal spending. Coburn agreed: "I think within 3-4 years, if we have not done the critical changes that we have to make, I think the confidence in our economy and our currency will be undermined significantly. And that may scare some folks -- it's not intended to."

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Congress

On The Floor: Ten Great Moments From Congress In 2010 (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 27, 2010, 8:33AM

As the year comes to a close, and we look ahead to all the wild and wacky things that are sure to happen in the new Republican-controlled House and only narrowly Democratic-controlled Senate, let's take a look back at the past year. A whole lot of amazing and memorable moments happened not only on the campaign trail, but on the two Congressional floors in the Capitol itself.

We've gathered together 10 unforgettable moments from the House and Senate in 2010. Some of them are great -- while others are just so bad that they're good.

But all of them give some perspective on the people who have been running our government, or who are about to have even more power next year. So sit back, relax, and laugh -- because it's better than crying.

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