Via Jim Geraghty, we get this delightful story of a Barack Obama fundraising event that sounds more like a Cippers game than an appearance by the Commander in Chief:

Pres. Obama is the best fundraiser the Dem Party has, but his drawing power is way down from its peak during the ’08 campaign.

Obama is heading to MO and NV today to raise money for Sec/State Robin Carnahan (D), running for an open Senate seat, and Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid.

But Carnahan’s campaign wasn’t able to completely sell out the Folly Theater, where Obama will appear for a grassroots event on Carnahan’s behalf, at the prices they wanted. Tickets once priced at $250 are now going for $99, while $35 tickets are half off.

We already knew that President Obama’s approval ratings would make him more of a liability than a benefit to Democrat candidates on the campaign trail. But up until now at least, it was generally assumed that he could raise money for targeted races. Apparently even that magic is gone. I’m curious to hear what scalpers are getting for their bargain-bin remainders.

Read More →

Early on Friday morning, after a 20-hour long conference, House and Senate negotiators agreed on a consensus version of their Wall Street overhaul. It’s nominally intended to address the problems exposed by the 2008 near collapse, which gave birth to our current bailout culture. But instead of addressing the problems of Fannie and Freddie, this bill does nothing to reform those GSEs. Faced with a political system that decided some companies were ‘too big to fail,’ this bill expands the power of the Treasury to take over failing firms when they believe it’s in the public interest. And even if a firm is not failing, it can be taken over if the Treasury decides it’s ‘at risk’ of failure.

This bill will do nothing to address the problems exposed in the recent credit crunch. It is being rushed through Congress without allowing legislators or the public time to read it. It is a classic Washington power grab – one that will leave the federal government – and the taxpayers – more involved in the financial markets than ever before. Opposing this bill is a no-brainer.

If you want to contact your Representative and Senators in opposition to this power grab, Liberty Central has made it easy to do so. Click on over to learn more about the problems with the bill, and to find out where your legislators stand.

She cares so much in fact, that she is really deeply committed to making sure that if they get accused of a crime, they get their day in court. In fact, just last week she sent a letter to a constituent, saying how confident she was that three Navy SEALs accused of punching a terrorist would get justice:

Read More →

On Thursday, the US Senate is scheduled to vote on Lisa Murkowski’s SJRes 26, which would stop the EPA from imposing a cap-and-trade-style energy rationing plan. This will be the most important climate change vote of the year, particularly in the Senate.

But how is the White House dealing with the possibility that the Senate will reject cap and trade? Are they lobbying the Senate, hoping to defeat the resolution, and trying to figure out what their next step is, even if the Senate rejects the proposal? In a word, no. Instead, the White House is currently participating in climate talks in Bonn, intended to lock in cap and trade going forward. If these talks go ‘well,’ energy rationing will be required in the US under the terms of a new global warming treaty. It seems Barack Obama doesn’t really care what the Senate thinks.

And not only is the White House attempting to lock in a policy that the Senate may be about to reject, they’re making billions of dollars in financial commitments as well. According to the State Department, ‘Fast Start Money is Already Flowing’ to developing nations that are ‘most vulnerable’ to climate change. And a ‘significant increase’ is coming in 2011. (Maybe the White House has forgotten that the annual budget deficit is well over $1 trillion – with no sign of leveling off.) Even if the Senate refuses to approve any treaty, the White House will argue we should abide by its provisions, anyway. After all, that’s what they have done with the never-approved Kyoto treaty.

With the White House dead set on ignoring popular will, it’s critical that we send a clear message to Congress that the American people reject this job-killing, wealth-destroying agenda. If you want to take action, click here to make your voice heard.

The first part of the Obama administration has shown us clearly that the leadership in Washington is committed to a far left agenda. Forced to choose between steering a moderate course and preserving their popularity, or dramatically expanding the size of the state, Congress and the president have chosen the latter. Their extremism is bound to cost them seats in November, but that won’t reverse the damage they have done.

For that reason, proponents of limited, constitutional government need as many advocates as they can, pushing to rein in our out-of-control government. We need more advocates, and more resources, aimed at pressuring Congress to read and heed the Constitution. We need more efforts to convince Americans that endless government expansion is both illegitimate and counterproductive. For these reasons, I’ve spent the last few months helping prepare for the launch of a new site that will help in this cause: Liberty Central.

Read More →

Have you seen the Wall Street Journal op-ed by General Motors’ CEO Ed Whitacre? Have you seen the commercials GM is running, bragging about having repaid their taxpayer loan ‘in full?’ Whitacre acknowledges that there’s ‘still more to do.’ At the top of the list should be ending their attempts to fool American taxpayers, to whom GM still owes tens of billions of dollars:

Uncle Sam gave GM $49.5 billion last summer in aid to finance its bankruptcy. (If it hadn’t, the company, which couldn’t raise this kind of money from private lenders, would have been forced into liquidation, its assets sold for scrap.) So when Mr. Whitacre publishes a column with the headline, “The GM Bailout: Paid Back in Full,” most ordinary mortals unfamiliar with bailout minutia would assume that he is alluding to the entire $49.5 billion.

Read More →

Dear Swing-Seat Democrats:

Hey. How are things? I see that you’re really busy trying to figure out just how much you’ll need to sell your vote for Obamacare. So I’ll make this quick.

Liberals got all angry when Jim DeMint said that if the president’s health care rationing bill was defeated, it would be his ‘Waterloo.’ DeMint meant that it would more or less put an end to Obama’s hopes of pushing his agenda of dramatic change, and he was right. If Obamacare is defeated, it’s hard to imagine that there’s any way he could turn and pursue card check, or the Freedom of Choice Act, or DADT, or (another) big tax increase, or anything else on the extreme left’s wish list.

Read More →

President Obama and Congressional Democrat leaders promised that they would use the reconciliation ‘fix’ to correct the inequities of the original House and Senate bills. Items like the Cornhusker Kickback and Louisiana Purchase would be eliminated, and all states would be treated fairly. But it turns out they didn’t mean it. According to the Associated Press, there are still special deals intended to buy the support of a number of wavering Representatives and Senators:

Read More →

It’s becoming apparent that Democrats have decided that they really will do anything to pass Obamacare – including seemingly violating the Constitution. This is likely to guarantee that their health care plan will enjoy an express ride to a Supreme Court challenge, but it also opens up a whole new range of possibilities for enactment of a bold conservative agenda.

Right now, it seems highly likely that Republicans will control one or more houses of Congress in the near future. The House could easily fall to Republican control in 2010, and the Senate is a distinct possibility. Voters contemplating an individual health care mandate, and an unprecedented power grab might be even more likely to throw out endangered Democrats. Control of both chambers could come this year. Even if they do not, they could easily win back both Houses of Congress and the White House in 2012 – when far more Democrat-held Senate seats are up than GOP seats.

Read More →

Charlie Rangel’s offenses are serious enough to have prompted an ongoing ethics investigation. They are serious enough to warrant his stepping aside as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. They’re serious enough that there’s a real question as to whether this is the end of his political career. And they’re serious enough that 27 House Democrats have decided to surrender the donations he made to their political campaigns.

But freshmen Representatives Gerry Connolly and Glenn Nye apparently think that Rangel has gotten a bum rap. At least, that’s the logical interpretation of their insistence at keeping the money Rangel gave them – as the Virginia GOP reminds us.

What will it take for Connolly and Nye to do the right thing – as one of their own home-state Democratic colleagues has already done? Defeating them in November seems to be the only way to convince them of the error of their ways.

HT: Virginia VirtuaCon

Ask yourself this question: if Nancy Pelosi were trying to lose control of the House, what would she do differently? Elevating her extreme liberal California pal Pete Stark to temporary leadership of the Ways and Means Committee is a great way to further alienate independents and divide Democrats.

Stark is next in line for the post in seniority, but his maverick personality had led some to question whether he would get the gavel even on a temporary basis. Stark has made many controversial comments over the years, and when Republicans controlled the House, Stark challenged then Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) to a fight during a Ways and Means Committee hearing.

Stark in 2007 called President George W. Bush a “liar” on the House floor, adding that Bush was amused over U.S. soldier deaths in Iraq. Pelosi condemned the remarks and Stark subsequently apologized.

The Hill has barely even scratched the surface of Pete Stark highlights. It’s worth a little more detail. Stark didn’t just call President Bush a liar; he said Bush was sending troops to Iraq so they could get their heads ‘blown off’ for his personal amusement:

Read More →

Coming into this election cycle, Rick Boucher was the safest of Democrats. Despite his district’s strong Republican lean, he has been re-elected comfortably in recent years. His district did not even earn a mention on Charlie Cook’s list of races to watch until September, when he first listed it as ‘Likely Democratic.’

It’s become clear recently however, that Rick Boucher is in trouble. His liberal voting record is out-of-touch with his conservative district – particularly on the key issue of Cap-and-Trade. And now he’s having trouble dodging responsibility for a vote that would kill the coal industry in his district:

The lesser of two evils is how Congressman Rick Boucher described cap and trade legislation.

Boucher said the Supreme Court’s ruled in 2007 that green house gases were pollutants and had to be regulated. He said that meant the Environmental Protection Agency would regulate the gases or congress would have to write the regulations.

He said the regulations did not originate with the current president and denied that Obama hated coal or intended to regulate coal out of business. Boucher said the regulation drafted by Congress was not perfect but did protect the coal industry.

He said voting no, as West Virginia Congressman Nick Joe Rahall, did would not have been serving his district. “I could have voted no and that would have taken me out of the picture when it came to negotiating what was in the legislation.

Read More →

As noted earlier, I had the opportunity to attend much of the GOP Retreat in Baltimore today. I interviewed several Members about the session with President Obama, and I interviewed Congressman Pete Sessions about the upcoming midterm elections. Here they are, unedited:

Read More →

Today I attended the House GOP retreat in Baltimore, at the invitation of House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence. I got to play at reporter, and to chat with some Members of Congress and staff. I also got to attend the speech with the President, and the subsequent question-and-answer session.

As others have noted, the speech very much seemed to be an attempt by the president to show that he is bipartisan, friendly, and open to GOP ideas – no matter how the facts might appear to you. Both sides took the opportunity to play to the cameras of course, with long questions centering on deficits and broken promises, and well-rehearsed answers about the trillions in deficits inherited from President Bush.

Read More →

In the wake of Scott Brown’s upset win in Massachusetts, Blue-Chip GOP candidates are coming out of the woodwork around the country. But there seems to be little progress in dark blue New York – at least when it comes to statewide races. With a dearth of good candidates (so far), New York may be one state where Democrats dodge a Republican wave that seems set to sweep the nation in 10 months.

This year the Empire State is host to a bevy of statewide contests. Voters will elect two US Senators, a Governor, Attorney General and Comptroller. At this point, there are two Republican candidates declared for those contests: former Representative Rick Lazio for Governor, and former County Legislator Bruce Blakeman for Kirsten Gillibrand’s Senate seat. Admittedly, New York has few top-tier Republican candidates – especially after 3 consecutive disastrous cycles. But polls show that Gillibrand is eminently beatable. And the Governor’s race should be appealing as well – even if you assume that Andrew Cuomo will defeat incumbent David Paterson in a primary.

Read More →

Speaker (to be) Boehner predicted the other day that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will not be tried in New York City. It seems increasingly likely that he’s right, as Democrats grow more and more fearful of the political and security ramifications of these proceedings. With Schumer and Gillibrand now saying that they’re open to a different venue, and the White House no longer willing to stand by Eric Holder on this, it sounds as if Democrats are just trying how to backtrack on this without looking like flip-floppers… again:

New York’s senators are open to moving the trial of a 9/11 mastermind out of Manhattan after Mayor Bloomberg said he’d happily see the terror thug take the stand elsewhere.

Read More →

My friend Matt Lewis pens a piece today about the coming primary between John McCain and former Representative JD Hayworth. I suppose it’s a preview of how McCain plans to try to split Hayworth from his conservative base. But if this is the best that McCain can do, then he’s headed for trouble.

First off, full disclosure: I have liked JD Hayworth since my days on Capitol Hill, and I had the chance to work with him and his staff (a little) on taxes and other legislation. I like JD because he tells it like he sees it, and he embraces conservative values down to his core. I respect and admire John McCain, and I appreciate the great work he has done for conservative causes at times in his career. However, I know – and anyone who has watched McCain knows – that if he is re-elected, he will at some point in the next 6 years work against conservatives and with liberals on energy taxes, free speech restrictions, or God-knows what other liberal cause suddenly consumes him. I believe that given the choice of a genuine conservative, and a conservative-when-voters-demand-it, conservatives should back the former – JD Hayworth.

Matt does not try to argue that McCain is more conservative than Hayworth, but that Hayworth isn’t ‘a conservative hero.’ It’s worth noting that Hayworth’s lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union is 98% – compared to 81% for McCain. And if you look at McCain’s ratings from groups like the ACU and others, you’ll note that in between elections there are years when his ratings drop considerably – because McCain is a maverick who has often worked against conservatives during his years in the Senate.

Read More →

Mike Bloomberg’s Chief of Police spoke to the New York Young Republican Club last week, and he told the stunned audience that the Obama White House never consulted with the NYPD or Mayor Bloomberg before announcing a decision to try Khalid Sheikh Muhammad in lower Manhattan:

“We were not consulted,” Kelly said tersely of the decision. He stated that the trial “will raise the threat level of this city,” a threat that “will not fade any time soon.” And it affects more than lower Manhattan, we learned. “We will have to look at the entire city as a potential target.”

Read More →

This is nothing more than scuttlebut, so take it for what it’s worth. But given her horrible poll numbers, it’s probably quite reasonable to conclude that anyone would have a better shot at winning this Senate seat than Blanche Lincoln:

A well-known Washington insider has been telling Arkies this weekend that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is trying to talk Sen. Blanche Lincoln out of running for re-election.

That would open the door for a Wes Clark candidacy. And U.S. Rep. Mike Ross would be in the race in a heartbeat. Then comes a deluge of candidates in the 4th District. Forget for a moment what a Boozman candidacy does for the House of Dominoes on the Republican side from Senate down.

Read More →

Here’s a completely unsurprising and predictable story.

Do you remember how many conservatives spent months trying to figure out why the leadership of the American Medical Association signed the nation’s doctors up in support of Obamacare? Many conservatives argued that the AMA was being shortsighted – that Congressional Democrats would ultimately betray the AMA, despite the powerful group’s consistent advocacy of the president’s health care rationing bill. We knew that the AMA had made a deal with the devil: they backed Pelosi and Reid only because they promised the ‘doc fix’ – permanent relief from huge reductions in Medicare reimbursements. We said that Democrats would use the AMA endorsement and then turn against the group when they had the chance.

Well, we were right:

‘Doc Fix’ Could Be Left Stranded as Health Care Overhaul Founders

Those who follow the long-running doctor payment saga say the poisoned atmosphere surrounding health care spending makes it difficult to see how Congress will agree to the hundreds of billions of dollars needed to make a permanent change in the payment formula. The Senate has rejected attempts to pay for the 10-year cost without offsets.

Read More →