We are constantly hearing the DC chattering class bemoan the toxic partisanship that is endemic of congressional politics. These supercilious wizards of smart contend that if we just had a little more bipartisanship in Washington, all of our public policy troubles would dissipate in short order. The reality cannot be more antithetical to this ubiquitous line of thought from the media. We suffer from a | Read More »
There is an interesting factoid that was overlooked from last night’s largely pro-forma presidential primaries. According to University of Minnesota’s Eric Ostermeier, Romney was the first GOP frontrunner who failed to reach 60% in contests “conducted after his last major challenger dropped out of the race.” Romney won just 56% of the vote in Delaware and 58% in Pennsylvania. Over the past few months, we’ve | Read More »
As we’ve noted in recent weeks, there is an effort to bail out the Postal Service with phony accounting measures. Democrats are currently voting on amendments to a bailout bill (S. 1789) that leaves taxpayers on the hook, without reforming the USPS with structural changes that the Postmaster General himself supports. This bill will offer a backhanded channel to grant the USPS $41 billion from | Read More »
There’s got to be some way to create a legislative scorecard on committee votes. Last month, House Republicans almost unanimously passed the “Ryan” budget resolution for FY 2013. It established the topline discretionary spending level at $1.028 trillion, just $15 billion below last year’s levels and $19 billion below the cap set in the Budget [Out of] Control Act. To put that in perspective, the | Read More »
Senator Kent Conrad has finally made it clear that he has no intentions of passing a budget resolution. He will offer the “Simpson-Bowles plan” without allowing any amendments or even a committee vote, much less a floor vote. That’s some budget resolution. Without a budget resolution to guide the topline spending numbers, the Senate Appropriations Committee has already begun markups on the 12 appropriations bills | Read More »
It’s another week in Washington, and it’s yet another bailout. This time, taxpayers will be tapped for another $41 billion to subsidize the healthcare retirement benefits of postal workers – benefits that are quite scarce in the private sector. Democrats have a serious problem with creative destruction and advancements in technology. For self-described progressives, they are quite regressive when it comes to efficiency in markets | Read More »
If we ever desire to win a conservative majority even within the Republican conference, we must elect unvarnished conservatives in solid red states like Nebraska. That’s why we are supporting Don Stenberg, a man who has held consistent conservative views, for Senate. Unfortunately, Jon Bruning is spending a lot of money convincing people that he is something that he never was before he decided to | Read More »
As we approach the March 31 expiration date for surface transportation projects, we can take solace in the fact that the House will not vote on two bad bills; Boehner’s original 5-year $260 billion reauthorization and the Senate’s 2-year $109 billion bill. While we push for a more prudent long-term solution, the House will pass a 90-day stopgap bill to continue spending at current levels | Read More »
There has been somewhat of a scandal percolating in the local North Dakota media relating to Rick Berg’s prodigal use of his franking privileges in Congress. Throughout the history of Congress, congressmen were afforded “franking privileges” as a way of facilitating communication between a member and his constituents. In plain English, this refers to the right of members to mail correspondence to constituents at no | Read More »
Paul Ryan is set to release the details of the House Republican budget resolution tomorrow. While liberals, conservatives, tea partiers, etc. will have plenty to say about the content of the budget, we must all acknowledge that Ryan has worked assiduously to formulate a coherent blueprint for a responsible budget. The same cannot be said for his counterpart in the Senate. Senate Budget Committee Chairman | Read More »
In what’s become a biennial spectacle, supporters of unprincipled Republicans – who often vote with Democrats – are maligning conservatives as “purists” and accusing them of gambling away Republican control of the Senate. Today, Kimberley Strassel published a column in the WSJ, “Conservatives vs. a Senate Majority,” insinuating that Freedom Works and The Club for Growth are helping elect Democrats to the Senate. Specifically, she | Read More »
Last week, the House passed a slam-dunk jobs bill (H.R. 3606) 390-23. The bill reduces red tape, securities regulations, and reporting requirements on small companies that desire to go public. It also eliminated some of the new regulations implemented under Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley on companies that generate less than $1 billion in annual revenue. With all the unctuous complaints about partisanship, one would expect the Senate | Read More »
Update: All 4 amendments were defeated, meaning we won 2 and lost 2. DeMint’s devolution amendment failed 30-67 with 14 Republicans (including McConnell) voting no; Stabenow’s green energy pork amendment failed 49-49; DeMint’s repeal of all energy subsidies failed 26-72; the Menendez-Burr handouts for natural gas cars failed 51-47. 6 Republicans supported the subsidies, including Tom Coburn! This might seem like a stalemate, but the | Read More »
Earlier today, the Senate began voting on a series of 30 amendments to the highway bill (S.1813). The three important amendments regarding energy subsidies that we referenced earlier (2 bad, 1 good) were postponed until next week. However, here is a list of other commonsense amendments that were voted down by Democrats. It is truly sad that at a time when gas prices are at | Read More »
Update: The Senate postponed the three energy subsidy amendments until next week. Instead, they voted on amendments to drill in the outer continental shelf, expedite the keystone pipeline, and eliminate duplicative programs. Needless to say, Democrats killed all three of those amendments. We’ll fight on next week. We’ve been gunning hard for the Pompeo/DeMint bill, which would end all subsidies and special tax preferences for | Read More »
Democrats have a penchant to misconstrue the parlance related to tax credits and subsidies. They refer to subsidies as tax cuts and tax cuts as subsidies. They would have you believe that oil companies are completely on the dole, while solar and wind companies are heavily taxed entities in desperate need of some “tax breaks” and loans in order to alleviate the burden of producing | Read More »
Folks, it’s not the amendments we should be focused on; it’s the underlying bill that we must block. Yes, it’s another week in D.C., and that means it’s another week of work on the highway bill. Throughout the past two weeks, there have been copious pages of ink spilled pontificating about the ramifications of the Blunt amendment and religious conscious issues. Moreover, the Capitol Hill | Read More »
If I were pressed to offer one anecdote exemplifying our failure to elect consistent conservatives to Congress last November, the story of Senator Jerry Moran and Big Wind would be at the top of the list. In 2010, then-Congressman Jerry Moran beat former Congressman Todd Tiahrt for the Republican nomination for Senate in Kansas running as a red meat conservative. He easily won the seat | Read More »
If the House highway bill is an excrement sandwich, the Senate version is…well, it’s a lot worse. The one saving grace of the bill was that it supposedly did not contain any earmarks. Well, indeed there is one earmark in the bill, and it’s directed to Nevada. The earmark is ensconced in the bill very cleverly. On page 463 of the bill (lines 8-14), it | Read More »
Well, it appears that our efforts are paying off. Responding to our charge that the GOP was violating the pledge against bundled megabills, Boehner announced that he will split the proposal into three separate bills; the highway bill (HR 7), pension reform (HR 3813), and expanded oil and gas drilling (HR 3408). This from Roll Call: In a joint statement with Rules Chairman David Dreier | Read More »
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