Become a member. Already a member? Log in.
Healthcare consultant Jonathan Gruber “has been subpoenaed for documents related to his work on the healthcare law after refusing to give details about his compensation to House lawmakers,” The Hill reports.
“The decision follows a tense hearing earlier in the week in which Gruber, infamous for his comment that the “stupidity of the American voter” helped ObamaCare to pass, repeatedly declined to say how much he was paid as a consultant on the law.”
“I spend most of my time watching ESPN in the morning. I get so much politics I don’t want to be inundated with a bunch of chatter about politics during the day.”
— President Obama, quoted by Business Insider.
First Read: “Yes, in the end, Obama won and Pelosi lost. But how public and personal it was is a big sign of things to come in the next Congress. It would have been disastrous for Obama had the legislation gone down to defeat. So call it the White House’s near- (lame) DUCK experience.”
“For six years, the divides inside the Democratic Party were papered over by the greater goal of the party to rally around their president. But now that many congressional Democrats view their president as weak and less powerful today (thank you 22nd Amendment!), there is more comfort in the populist wing of the Democratic Party to clash with the president and the establishment wing. As has been noted for the last four years as Washington has been engrossed in the drama of the divided GOP, there are similar divides in the Dem Party, they just were papered over by Obama. That paper has now been shredded.”
“The president and the vice president are free to make their calls, but they don’t have a vote on the floor of the House.”
— Rep Steve Israel (D-NY), quoted by the AP, expressing his opposition to the funding bill that narrowly passed the House last night.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s efforts to forge an “SEC” presidential primary for Southern states is gaining steam, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“His counterparts in Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama have sent over letters indicating their support for setting March 1 as a new regional primary in 2016. He’s also working with election officials in Louisiana and South Carolina to coordinate the timing.”
“As he wrestles with another run for president, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is trying keep his political maneuverings above the fray and below the radar,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
“Backed by a new nonprofit group that can raise unlimited cash, Kasich traveled to Phoenix with an unusually large entourage. He also widened his political circle, adding Sarah Nelson, a western states operative in Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign who will help Kasich navigate the same terrain on his balanced budget tour.”
“No majority leader in my era would have thought to attempt to go around the committee and negotiate over the head of the committee chair. You could not get away with it.”
— Former Sen. Bob Packwood (R-OR), quoted by the Washington Post, on Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) being bypassed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) said Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) unapologetic love for the Dallas Cowboys is “pathetic,” adding that it’s rooted in a “basic inferiority complex,” CNN reports.
Said Rendell: “If you are a Jerseyite or a Pennsylvanian and you’re rooting for the Cowboys, it means you’re not secure in yourself and you wanted to root for a team that was a team in your youth that was a constant winner.”
He added: “How can a Jersey guy be a Cowboys fan? It’s pathetic.”
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) “has strong ideas about what the next Republican presidential nominee should be like,” the Washington Post reports.
“A ‘solutions conservative’ with a record of policy reform originating in the states. A candidate versed in foreign affairs who envisions a muscular role for the United States in the world. And someone who is ‘relentlessly optimistic’ — and capable of attracting new voters to the Republican Party as Ronald Reagan did a generation ago. As it happens, that sounds an awful lot like Mike Pence.”
Politico: “Conservatives began the lame-duck session enraged over President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration and hell-bent on unraveling the moves they saw as illegal, unconstitutional and just plain wrong. Now they’re ending the year frustrated at their own party’s leaders, who they think cut them out of the funding process and fumbled a chance to pick apart Obama’s immigration actions as soon as they were announced by not using the must-pass funding bill to undo it.”
Washington Post: Conservatives see funding bill as a betrayal
“Wall Street is once again on the rise in Washington. At least that’s what congressional Democrats, in broadsides levied at Republicans and the Obama administration alike, are yelling in increasing numbers. The party’s seizing of the anti-Wall Street narrative is instructive as Democrats face the new reality of operating in the minority in both chambers of Congress,” Bloomberg reports.
“Through two proxy battles playing out right now, Washington and Wall Street are getting a preview of the strategy, tactics, and strength of an increasingly frustrated and vocal left wing that is eager to employ the kind of clout it hopes will be a factor in the 2016 presidential campaign.”
“While some people close to Romney insist he hasn’t moved from saying he has no plans to run, the 2012 Republican nominee has sounded at least open to the idea in recent conversations, according to more than a dozen people who’ve spoken with him in the last month,” Politico reports.
“In his private musings, Romney has sounded less than upbeat about most of the potential candidates in the 2016 Republican field.”
The House “narrowly passed a $1.1 trillion spending package that would fund most government operations for the fiscal year after a rancorous debate that reflected the new power held by Republicans and disarray among Democrats in the aftermath of the midterm elections,” the New York Times reports
“The accord was reached amid last-minute brinkmanship and bickering that has come to mark one of the capital’s most polarized eras.”
Washington Post: “Lawmakers voted 219 to 206 to approve the omnibus bill and send it to the Senate, which is planning to hold a vote in the coming days. With government funding set to expire late tonight, Congress is scheduled to approve a short-term extension of current funding to give the Senate a few more days to work through its arcane procedural rules and vote on the bill.”
Roll Call: “Democrats were the ones who ultimately held government funding in suspense. They were largely expected to help Republicans make up for a drop-off in votes, but they held firm against two policy riders they said were put into the cromnibus at the eleventh hour: One rolling back portions of the financial regulatory overhaul law known as Dodd-Frank, the other loosening campaign finance rules.”
A new Pew Research survey finds that “perceptions of the current level of political division continue at record levels: 81% say the country is more politically divided these days than in the past. While that is little changed from two years ago, it is as high a percentage expressing this view as at any point over the past decade.”
“Looking ahead, few Americans expect the nation’s political differences to diminish. Just 17% think the country will be less politically divided five years from now.”
“Are we in the middle of a new Cold War? Indeed we are…. People are talking again not only about a new Cold War but a hot one…. It’s as if a time of great troubles has arrived. The world is roiling.”
— Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, in an interview with Time.
Wall Street Journal: “The White House’s budget office held a conference call Thursday with all federal agencies to review plans for a possible government shutdown, an administration official said, reviewing protocol in the event Congress doesn’t pass funding legislation by midnight.”
Hillary Clinton “is considering the nitty-gritty details of how and when to organize a presidential campaign amid signs that she will postpone making her shadow campaign official until later in 2015 than expected,” the Washington Post reports.
“Clinton and her small circle of close advisers are weighing legal advice to set up a strict firewall between her and the numerous outside groups backing her presumed 2016 candidacy… The quarantine would run for a set period of time before she would announce her candidacy, as a way to make sure that the campaign and outside groups do not run afoul of federal election rules.”
“But rather than announce in January — as she did in 2007 — Clinton allies are increasingly working under the assumption that an official announcement will not come until spring.”
“The 113th Congress — one of the least productive on record — found itself scrambling Thursday to pass a $1.1 trillion spending bill amid last-minute brinkmanship and bickering that has come to mark one of the capital’s most polarized eras,” the New York Times reports.
“Lawmakers were also preparing a safety, short-term spending measure that would fund the government only into early next year, at which point Republicans — who will then control both chambers of Congress — would be able to renegotiate the spending legislation on more favorable terms.”
Roll Call notes House GOP leaders already had to delay the vote.
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.