Speaker Pelosi, do you even remember promising to drain the swamp, and to turn ‘the most closed and corrupt Congress into the most open and honest Congress?’ If you even pretend to be serious about this, how can you allow the House of Representatives to vote on a bill that would put thousands (or millions) into the pockets of the sponsor, his wife, his father, | Read More »
An incredibly arrogant, venal and stupid move from an incredibly arrogant, venal, and stupid Member of Congress: A plan by House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) to ban “monuments to me” in this year’s appropriations bills has been sharply criticized behind closed doors by a senior Democrat who wants to direct $1 million to an employment center in her district bearing her name. Rep. Maxine | Read More »
I guess the Democrats are going to buy America some really great health care; they clearly don’t plan to be frugal with our money: Health-care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said. Democrats will work on the bill’s details next week | Read More »
Roll Call reports that Democrats in Congress are starting to get serious about forcing the Obama administration to reduce the number of auto dealership closings: Lawmakers concerned about car dealerships being forced to close amid General Motors and Chrysler restructuring moved fast this week to shine the spotlight on the matter — and seem to have gotten the attention they wanted. The House Energy and | Read More »
In my weekly column for the American Issues Project today, I take a look at Congress’ failure to address the ongoing problems encountered by our servicemen and -women as they attempt to exercise their right to vote. in every election, a disturbing percentage of our men and women in active duty have their votes go uncounted through no fault of their own. And Congress – | Read More »
The Wall Street Journal says that Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and Arlen Specter may have been snookered. Now that the Senate has passed a slimmed-down porked up version of the Obama-Reid-Pelosi debt spending plan, the White House is pushing to add back many of the items that it cut out to get their support:
News flash: Congress is an institution with deep and serious rifts. It’s a challenge to build a majority in support of anything, which is partly the reason it has such a bad reputation. In the Senate, it generally takes 60 votes to pass any meaningful legislation. For this reason, a President who cares about his agenda will involve himself closely in negotiations. Barack Obama on | Read More »
How much do Democrats need to spend to ‘fix’ the economy? Apparently more than FDR did during the New Deal: Take a look at that, and remember that ‘progressives’ have hit upon one consistent talking point: if Republicans aren’t going to vote for the debt package, Congress should go ahead and make it much bigger. Yes, it’s possible. Call your Senators today, and tell them | Read More »
Glenn Reynolds asks a good question: WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR LAST BIG “INFRASTRUCTURE” BILL? Everyone seems to have forgotten that just three years ago, in August 2005, Congress enacted the biggest federal public works program in American history, spending a massive $286.4 billion on the 2005 highway bill. At that time, President Bush and congressional leaders from both parties told us that the new highway | Read More »
It’s been interesting to follow the debate over earmarks in appropriations bills. Everyone knows that they increased dramatically in recent years, to the point where public anger at the practice led Congress to consider ‘reforms.’ There seems to be little confidence that Congress has really learned the lesson though, so the discussion about earmarks in Barack Obama’s risky spending scheme has been illustrative.
NBC news and the Wall Street Journal have completed a detailed poll of the American public, examining popular views on the risky spending scheme being considered in Congress. The headlines about the poll say things like ‘Public Backs Obama Stimulus Plan,’ and ‘Americans Strongly Back Obama and His Stimulus Plan,’ and they’re largely right. As the Journal summarizes: Overall, the poll found strong public backing | Read More »
Karl Rove sees warning signs for Obama in his dealings with Congress: More significantly, Team Obama is stumbling on its biggest priority — an economic stimulus package. One stutter step came when Mr. Obama said he looked forward to signing a stimulus bill on Jan. 20 and then failed to lay out a proposal by mid-December so Congress could chew it over. That led House | Read More »
Rasmussen finds that the American people are generally favorable toward Barack Obama’s stimulus plan: Generally speaking, do you favor or oppose the economic recovery plan proposed by Barack Obama? 44% Favor 28% Oppose 27% Not sure
And so it begins: “It’s certainly true that we in Congress will have input,” Sen. Charles E. Schumer , D-N.Y., said in a Jan. 9 conference call. But, he added, “The urgency of this economic crisis . . . is going to limit any haggling over competing approaches.” Schumer predicted that Congress would complete its work by a self-imposed Feb. 13 deadline and would enact | Read More »
In 1992, Bill Clinton campaigned for the presidency on a platform that focused on tax cuts (to get the economy moving again), welfare reform, and getting tough on crime. By the time he vetted his agenda with Congressional leaders, the early focus of his administration had shifted to enacting a public works package, lifting the ban on gays serving in the military, and raising taxes. | Read More »
The scores are in, and with the exception of a Democrat who served for just one month, the Democrat most ‘loyal’ to the Bush agenda in the last Congress was (former) Democratic Representative Nick Lampson: One House Democrat, Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio, supported Bush 100 percent of the time — but she was only a member for about a month, sworn in on Nov. | Read More »
It’s hard to find an economist or prognosticator who thinks that the economy is going to turn around quickly. It seems today that the 2010 election may be a referendum on what Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats do to restore economic growth. But rather than try to ensure that Republicans share the responsibility for the economy, it seems today that Democrats are eager to make | Read More »
This didn’t get a lot of attention over the Christmas-New Year break. The Congressional Budget Office released its assessment of key issues to consider in the debate over health care reform. As the Wall Street Journal summarized, CBO has found that expanding health care coverage is likely to be very expensive, and the cost savings promised by Democrats are unlikely to materialize: …CBO expects government | Read More »
What accounts for the sudden decline in the fortunes of America’s labor unions? Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that labor leaders helped elect the most liberal chief executive in modern times? Even before he’s sworn in, the debates over the automaker bailout and Card Check are making clear that as important as the White House is, you can’t succeed if your policy goals | Read More »
As usual, Frank is nothing else if not honest: “No. We’re not propping up companies. That’s your mistake,” he tells Stahl, who had asked him about taxpayer money going to prop up companies that had made bad decisions. “We’re propping up individuals. The world doesn’t consist of companies. The world is people. The country is people.” When Stahl points out that Frank is then talking | Read More »
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