Government Shutdown

House GOP Pushes The Envelope In Shutdown, Payroll Tax Fight

Brian Beutler | December 15, 2011, 10:40AM

John Boehner

Late Wednesday night -- in the early hours of Thursday morning, really -- House Republicans decided to go all in on the latest government shutdown fight.

Testing the limits of compliance with their own rule that legislation be posted online for three days before a final vote, GOP leaders, over White House objections, unveiled major appropriations legislation that must pass by Friday at the stroke of midnight if Congress is to avoid a government shutdown.

The move raises one key question for each party. Can Republicans pass these appropriations on their own, if Democrats stick to their guns and withhold their votes. And, if the GOP succeeds, will Senate Democrats and President Obama hold their ground and block the legislation until a key policy issues are addressed, and the parties reach agreement on the separate issue of how to extend the current payroll tax cut into next year.

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Health Care

Pro Health Care Group Targets GOP Freshmen For Repeal Vote (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | January 20, 2011, 9:30AM

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama

That didn't take long.

Moments after House Republicans (and three Democrats) voted to repeal President Obama's health care law, TV ads went live in the districts of three GOP freshmen in contested districts to knock them for that vote.

The ads target Reps. Jim Renacci (R-OH), who ousted John Boccieri in November, Jon Runyan (R-NJ) who knocked off John Adler, and Tim Walberg (R-MI), who defeated Mark Schauer.

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Democrats

Dead Dems Walking: TPM's List Of Candidates Who've Been Written Off By Their Party

Brian Beutler | November 2, 2010, 7:24AM

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer with other House Democrats

Returns for 435 House elections will start rolling in a few hours from now. Well before they do, though, most Dems had long conceded that more than a handful of races are already lost. With these seats for all intents and purposes off the table before the polls opened, the number of truly contested seats the GOP needs to win control of the House is effectively much smaller than the magic 39.

Assuming the House does change hands, then, the big open question is how big the swing will be. There are scores of seats in play, but the battle lines have already moved past over a dozen House members who, in most cases, have already been written off by their own party.

If you're keeping score tonight, don't hold your breath for any of these Democrats.

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OH-16

Ohio GOPer Claims Union Defamed Him In Suit

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 20, 2010, 10:14AM

Congressional candidate Jim Renacci (R-OH)

Republican Congressional candidate Jim Renacci has taken the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to court, claiming the union defamed him by claiming in ads that he lied on his taxes. The ads were aimed at helping his Democratic opponent, incumbent Rep. John Boccieri (D-OH).

The battle pits the GOP against a powerful union trying to protect a freshman Democratic pickup from 2008. Prognosticators say Boccieri's 16th District seat carries advantages for the Democrats, but could go either way. Let's put it this way: It's the kind of place that Republicans say they can win this year.

It's likely Renacci suit against a major name in organized labor won't hurt his goal of rallying Republican voters for November. According to local news site CantonRep.com, Renacci says in his suit that "the union's advertising contains false and defamatory statements that Renacci tried to cheat on his taxes."

"[T]the people of our district have been witness to a new low in the level of political discourse, as John Boccieri and the union bosses at AFSCME have engaged in some of the most reprehensible and ethically bankrupt conduct this district has ever seen," Renacci told reporters in a press conference outside court house steps yesterday.

AFSCME sees things a little differently.

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Sunday Shows

The Sunday Show Line-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | July 2, 2010, 3:50PM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:

• ABC, This Week: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

• CBS, Face The Nation: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

• CNN, State Of The Union: Afghan Ambassador to the United States Said Tayeb Jawab, Rep. John Boccieri (D-OH), Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA), Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO).

• Fox News Sunday: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Kenneth Feinberg, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).

• NBC, Meet The Press: Will not air, due to coverage of Wimbledon.

OH-16

Boccieri's Potential GOP Challenger Fought $1M+ Tax Assessment

Ben Frumin | April 14, 2010, 12:02PM

Congressional candidate Jim Renacci (R-OH)

Rep. John Boccieri's (D-OH) likely Republican opponent was "assessed nearly $1.4 million in unpaid state taxes, interest and fees in 2006" -- which he fought fiercely before finally paying, the Associated Press reports.

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Abortion

Dominos: Democratic Health Care Skeptics Fall Into Line For Reform

Brian Beutler | March 19, 2010, 6:35PM

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); inset (clockwise): Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN), Rep. Allen Boyd (D-FL), Rep. John Boccieri (D-FL) and Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL)

Yesterday, it was clear House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had built real momentum for passing health care reform this Sunday--but she was also dealing with a tricky landscape. She hadn't converted enough health care skeptics in her caucus to make up for the fact that several anti-abortion members are threatening to bolt over the Senate bill's abortion language, she was facing revolt from two separate members who were expected to vote for the final package, and the remaining holdouts were never going to be easy pickups.

Today that all changed.

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John Boccieri

Dem Rep. Boccieri Switches From No To Yes On Health Care Bill

Eric Kleefeld | March 19, 2010, 11:06AM

Rep. John Boccieri (D-OH)

Rep. John Boccieri (D-OH), who originally voted no on the health care bill in November, has just announced at a Washington press conference that he will vote for the bill -- the fourth Democrat to switch from no to yes.

Boccieri discussed his own upbringing, and thinking back to what would have happened if his family had not had health insurance. He was accompanied by constituents of his who either were personally denied health insurance or who had family members that had been denied insurance. And he invoked the name of Natoma Canfield, his constituent who had recently become a case study used by the administration for the need for reform.

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