A new FEC report shows House incumbents hold an 11-to-1 fundraising advantage over their 2014 challengers, Roll Call reports.
Archives for September 2013
Only Congress Can Raise the Debt Ceiling
A White House official tells First Read
that President Obama is not reconsidering ways around Congress to lift the
debt ceiling: “Only Congress can raise the debt limit. Period. We have said coin
and 14th Amendment aren’t workable.”
Shutdown Will Cost a Lot of Money
Carrie Dann: “If
past is prologue, a looming government shutdown could actually cost
U.S. taxpayers money. A lot of money. According to the Office of
Management and Budget, the two shutdowns in 1995 and 1996 cost taxpayers
$1.4 billion combined. Adjust for inflation and you’ve got $2 billion
in today’s dollars. Those two shutdowns lasted a total of 27 days, but
there’s no telling how long the government could be shuttered this time
around if Congress fails to act by Monday at midnight. Even shorter
shutdowns have proven successful at draining government funds.”
Washington Post:
“A shutdown of a few days might do little
damage, but economists, lawmakers and analysts are increasingly bracing
for a shutdown that could last a week or more, given the distance
between Republicans and Democrats. Such an outcome would suck money out
of the economy and spread anxiety among consumers and businesses in a
way that is likely to hold back economic activity.”
North Carolina Sued Over Voter ID Law
Charlotte Observer: “The
U.S. Department of Justice will file a lawsuit Monday to stop North
Carolina’s new voter ID law, which critics have said is the most
sweeping law of its kind, according to a person briefed on the
department’s plans. Attorney General Eric Holder, who has said he will
fight state voting laws that he sees as discriminatory, will announce
the lawsuit at noon Monday, along with the three U.S. attorneys from the
state. Critics said the law will disenfranchise African-American and
elderly voters, while the Republican-led General Assembly in Raleigh
said the law will protect the state’s voters from potential fraud.”
Clinton Documentary Canceled
Director Charles Ferguson writes on Huffington Post that his planned documentary on Hillary Clinton has been canceled but that it was a near total stonewalling by Clinton and her associates that caused him to pull out of the project, rather than any pressure from CNN.
Writes Ferguson: “When I approached people for interviews, I discovered that nobody, and I mean nobody, was interested in helping me make this film. Not Democrats, not Republicans — and certainly nobody who works with the Clintons, wants access to the Clintons, or dreams of a position in a Hillary Clinton administration. Not even journalists who want access, which can easily be taken away.”
Bachus Calls it Quits
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) told WBRC that he will not seek another term in Congress.
Threat of Shutdown is Windfall for Fundraisers
Los Angeles Times: “The last week of standoffs and stalemates in Washington won’t help Congress’ dismal approval ratings. And the likelihood that most government programs will begin shutting down Tuesday already has started disrupting the lives of millions of federal government workers, contractors and their families.”
“But for one group — fundraisers who collect cash for members of Congress and those hoping to join the club — the shutdown threat is a windfall.”
Populist Left Rallies Around Warren
“In Democratic circles, disappointment in the promise of the Obama presidency and unease over a possible restoration of the Clintons have made” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), “who was sworn in just 10 months ago, the object of huge interest and the avatar of a newly assertive, fervently populist left eager for a more confrontational approach to politics,” the New York Times reports.
Warren “said in an interview that she was not interested in seeking the presidency… But in seizing on issues animating her party’s base — the influence of big banks, soaring student loan debt and the widening gulf between the wealthy and the working class — Ms. Warren is challenging the centrist economic approach that has been the de facto Democratic policy since President Bill Clinton and his fellow moderates took control of the party two decades ago.”
Brown is Selling His Home
Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-NH) is selling his home in Massachusetts “at a time many are speculating he is planning his next political move,” the Boston Herald reports.
“Brown could not be reached for comment. He has said he is exploring a possible 2016 presidential run. He is also seen as a potential Senate candidate in New Hampshire, where he owns a summer home.”
Meanwhile, Politico notes Brown “will appear at another GOP function in New Hampshire on Monday night, continuing to fan flames that he might move there to run for Senate in 2014, even though the possibility of that happening looks increasingly remote.”
Quote of the Day
“The circus created the past few days isn’t reflective of mainstream Republicans — it projects an image of not being reasonable. The vast majority of Republicans are pretty level-headed and are here to govern.”
— Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY), quoted by Bloomberg, on the intraparty struggle playing out in public over a government shutdown.
Boehner’s Grip on Caucus Being Tested
National Review has a must-read piece on the dynamics facing Speaker John Boehner as a government shutdown looms.
“That aura of Republican infighting will create an interesting dynamic if Tuesday morning comes without an accord. While Boehner and other leaders will be defending the GOP’s position in front of the cameras, there may be a subtle effort to use the episode — and what many expect to be its disastrous political results — as a means of discrediting the hardliners who give the speaker headaches. Conservatives, meanwhile, will try to show that the tactic is helping focus public attention on Obamacare.”
Said one veteran House Republican: “It may have to shut down. Until people feel the political pain, I doubt we can come together on anything. Boehner knows that, probably more than anyone.”
The Fix: “Boehner’s conundrum is this: He knows that most polling shows
Republicans will take the blame for a shutdown. But, he also knows that
if he gives in and/or is perceived as giving in by cast-iron
conservatives, his speakership is all-but-over.”
More Would Blame Republicans for Shutdown
If the federal government shuts down on Tuesday, a new CNN/ORC poll finds that 46% of Americans say they would blame congressional Republicans, with 36% saying President Obama would be more responsible and 13% pointing fingers at both the GOP in Congress and Obama.
In a separate question, 49% of all people in the poll say that Obama is acting like a responsible adult in this budget battle, with 47% describing him as a spoiled child. Meanwhile, 58% say congressional Democrats are acting like spoiled children, with that number rising to 69% for the GOP in Congress.
Collins Rebukes House Republicans
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) broke with House Republicans, rebuking her colleagues for playing politics with ObamaCare, The Hill reports.
Said Collins: “I disagree with the strategy of linking Obamacare with the continuing functioning of government — a strategy that cannot possibly work.”
New Yorkers Don’t Want Spitzer to Make Another Comeback
A new Siena Poll in New York finds that 62% of voters do not want Eliot Spitzer to run for office against next year.
Said pollster Steven Greenberg: “On the heels of his political comeback attempt earlier this month, narrowly losing a Democratic primary for City Comptroller, voters are urging Spitzer to eschew any new comeback attempts in 2014. Only one-quarter of voters want to see him run for statewide office next year, nearly evenly divided among State Comptroller and his previous positions of Governor and Attorney General. At least 62 percent of voters from every region and party
agree, although more than 40 percent of African American and Latino voters think he should run.”
Little Enthusiasm for Obamacare
A new Kaiser Family Foundation/NBC survey found an anemic level of enthusiasm about the launch this week of Obamacare health insurance exchanges.
“Just over half said they were worried, while slightly less said they were confused. Twenty-nine percent said they were angry about the ACA, compared to just 24 percent who described themselves as enthusiastic.”
Will Obama Have to Give This Speech Now?
Jon Favreau: “The most terrifying speech I ever wrote for President Obama was one he never gave. On July 30, 2011, I began drafting an address to the nation about what would happen if Congress refused to raise the debt limit within 48 hours, thus denying the United States Treasury the ability to pay our country’s bills for the first time in 235 years.”
When Politics Worked
In the mail: Tip and The Gipper: When Politics Worked by Chris Matthews.
A Pivotal Moment for Speaker Boehner
Politico: “Unless there is a last-minute deal, the U.S. government will shut down Monday at midnight, immediately furloughing hundreds of thousands of federal workers. The vast majority of public and private polling shows that Boehner’s House Republicans will get blamed for the stalemate. Boehner and his top aides know it — after all, it was the speaker who privately warned his leadership team that this shutdown could cost him his majority.”
“It’s a pivotal moment for Boehner, perhaps the biggest crisis of his speakership, and he’s heading into it with a weak hand. The best Boehner can hope for is a draw. At worst, he could be endangering his troubled 17-seat majority as well as his own hold on the speaker’s gavel.”
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