Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) used taxpayer money to pay for a private plane to travel from Peoria to Chicago for the Bears-Vikings game on Nov. 16, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
“These new Sun-Times revelations are part of a growing number of questions surrounding Schock’s use of campaign and government funds to support his extravagant jet-set lifestyle.”
Pennsylvania artist Nelson Shanks told the Philadelphia Daily News that he included a reference to Monica Lewinsky in his portrait of Bill Clinton.
Said Shanks: “If you look at the left-hand side of it there’s a mantle in the Oval Office and I put a shadow coming into the painting and it does two things. It actually literally represents a shadow from a blue dress that I had on a mannequin, that I had there while I was painting it, but not when he was there. It is also a bit of a metaphor in that it represents a shadow on the office he held, or on him. And so the Clintons hate the portrait. They want it removed from the National Portrait Gallery. They’re putting a lot of pressure on them.”
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), “who has served in Congress longer than any woman in history, will announce at a news conference Monday that she is retiring from the Senate after five terms in office,” the Washington Post reports.
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Byron York: “He seems to be the Republican candidate who has the best chance of connecting with the millions of middle-class voters who have drifted away from the GOP in recent elections…”
“At the same time, Walker could be headed for trouble with the establishment, Washington-based wing of his party. Look for GOP insiders to begin whispering, and then saying out loud, that Walker needs to raise his game if he is going to play on the national stage. On the one hand, they’ll have a point — Walker needs to come up with clear, crisply-expressed positions on a variety of national and international issues. On the other hand, Walker’s way-outside-the-Beltway method of expressing himself might resonate with voters in primary and caucus states more than Washington thinks.”
Associated Press: “Nearly a dozen people close to Rubio, including GOP officials, fundraisers and his advisers, say Rubio has told them he is in the final stages of planning the launch of his presidential run and will formally join the crowded field of Republican hopefuls as early as April. All spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss their private conversations with Rubio.”
“Rubio’s advisers have told party leaders that they should expect to recruit a candidate to run for his Senate seat in 2016, according to four people involved in the talks, who discussed the private conversation on the condition of anonymity because Rubio has not notified the National Republican Senatorial Committee of his plans.”
“In a historic break with its past, the California Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Sunday to formally recognize a gay GOP group,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“The move, which drew the condemnation of some socially conservative GOP members, grants a charter to the Log Cabin Republicans’ California chapter, making it an official volunteer arm of the state party. It is among the first gay groups in the nation to be officially sanctioned by a state Republican party.”
Tom LoBianco: “It will be at least two months until he announces it, but Gov. Mike Pence appears to have his sights set on a 2016 re-election bid, not a run at the White House.”
“Recently, Pence has ramped up his presence inside the Indiana Statehouse, while downplaying his trips outside the state. And he has become more hands-on around the Statehouse, especially after the criticism and even ridicule hurled at him over the proposed then scrapped “JustIN” state news site.”
“I don’t think that senators have much chance of running for president. The reason is, if they’re doing their job, they can’t run. If they don’t do their job, then that’ll be used against them. ”
— Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), quoted by the New York Times.
“Hillary Clinton and her close advisers are telling Democratic donors that she will enter the presidential race sooner than expected, likely in April, a move that would allay uncertainties within her party and allow her to rev up fundraising,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Clinton aides have spoken of the earlier timetable in private meetings, according to people engaged in recent discussions about the presumed Democratic front-runner’s emerging 2016 campaign. Many within her camp have advocated her staying out of the fray until the summer.”
House Republican leaders “will face a familiar dilemma this week when they try again to approve funding to keep the Department of Homeland Security functioning through the end of September: They know their party is too divided to resolve the crisis on its own but fear the political fallout if they rely on Democrats to get them out of the jam,” the Washington Post reports.
Wall Street Journal: “The fight over immigration looms especially large because of what it portends for other big battles. Congress must vote on whether to raise the debt ceiling, which the U.S. will hit later this year, as well as on more immediate issues like avoiding a cut in payments to Medicare providers and replenishing the Highway Trust Fund, which is funded only through the end of May.”
“President Obama and two of his top national security officials will make their case publicly on Monday for a diplomatic agreement with Iran to prevent that nation from acquiring a nuclear weapon, one day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is to address Congress to denounce such a deal,” the New York Times reports.
“The president has scheduled an interview with Reuters for Monday afternoon, the same day that Susan E. Rice, his national security adviser, and Samantha Power, his ambassador to the United Nations, will address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at its policy conference here.”
The Wall Street Journal says the showdown “has far-reaching implications for ties between the two countries and the shape of power and influence in the Middle East.”
“Feuding within Virginia’s state GOP is alarming prominent national Republicans who think the infighting in a crucial swing state threatens the party’s quest to recapture the White House in 2016,” the Washington Post reports.
“The rift pits centrist conservatives against tea party and Libertarian activists, and it is playing out in divisive primaries and causing wrangling for control of the party’s state organization. A bitter source of the conflict — one almost certain to ignite renewed debate as 2016 approaches — is whether the state GOP will select a presidential candidate in a primary or at a convention, a process likely to influence whether the winner is a centrist or a right-wing Republican.”
“It was just messy and I’m not into messy. But listen, I enjoy being in a legislative body. I enjoy all the personalities, and I’ve got a lot of them.”
— Speaker John Boehner, in an interview with CBS News, admitting that averting a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security on Friday night “wasn’t a whole lot of fun.”
“I reject bigotry of all forms.”
— House Majoriy Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), quoted by The Hill, trying to mend fences with the black community since it became known he spoke to a group in 2002 that was founded by a former Ku Klux Klan member.
Joshua Spivak notes the recall campaign against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) started almost immediately after he was sworn in and received massive news coverage — “far eclipsing what other governors would get for anything other than a scandal or a serious presidential campaign. A quick search of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal shows this. From February 5, 2011 to December 31, 2012, Scott Walker was mentioned in 422 New York Times and 667 Wall Street Journal stories.”
“Compare that to some of his fellow GOP governors who were elected at the exact same time from much larger states with far greater economic impact on the country. Ohio’s John Kasich received mentions in 64 NYT and 167 WSJ pieces. Michigan’s Rick Snyder saw his name in 105 NYT and 196 WSJ stories. Florida’s Rick Scott was mentioned 214 times by the NYT and 152 times by the WSJ. And Pennsylvania’s Tom Corbett appeared in 68 NYT and 117 WSJ articles.”
Jeb Bush will not sign any “no new taxes” pledges or any other pledges if he decides to seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, Reuters reports.
“Bush’s opposition to such pledges is longstanding. He did not sign such pledges in any of his three previous campaigns for Florida governor.”
“Republican fears are mounting over a Supreme Court case that the party has long hailed as its best chance to undo Obamacare,” The Hill reports.
“The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday on a GOP-backed case that threatens to erase healthcare subsidies for 8 million people. The vast stakes are raising alarm among Republicans, particularly in the Senate, who increasingly fear a backlash at the polls if their party can’t find a fix.”
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey finds 48% of American voters think that Republican lawmakers should not have invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress without first notifying President Barack Obama.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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