“As India awaits sentencing of the men who gang-raped a young woman in Delhi, a politician was arrested on rape charges in the northeastern state of Assam, then stripped and beaten by a crowd,” the New York Times reports.
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Bolling Testing Waters for Independent Bid
Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) confirmed that he has been “polling voters and meeting with business leaders to gauge the viability of an independent bid for governor,” the Washington Post reports.
“Bolling said he was considering a run as an independent candidate when he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination in November. But some political observers doubted his seriousness, even as he went on over the next month to become uncharacteristically vocal on a number issues, including uranium mining and arming school teachers.”
Quote of the Day
“Intimidating is going up to a growling Rottweiler and having to squeeze his anal glands, or going up to a stallion that weighs 1,200 pounds and telling him you’re going to take his testicles off. That’s intimidating. I think I can handle Congress.”
— Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL), quoted by National Journal, saying his days as a large animal veterinarian prepared him for his new job,
Failed Coup Shows Divisions in House GOP
A group of dissident Republicans failed to push Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) to a second ballot in his election as Speaker and potentially replace him as leader of the House, The Hill reports.
“Twelve House Republicans broke from Boehner in a tense public roll-call vote, either by voting for someone else or deliberately not voting at all — five short of what would have been needed to force a second ballot.”
Obama First Since Eisenhower to Win 51% of Vote Twice
A revised vote count eight weeks after the presidential election finds President Obama nationally won 65.9 million votes — or 51.1% of the vote — against challenger Mitt Romney, who took 60.9 million votes and 47.2% of the total, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Obama is the first president to achieve that level of support in two elections since President Dwight D. Eisenhower was re-elected in 1956.
Geithner to Leave Before Debt Ceiling Deal
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner “plans to leave the administration at the end of January, even if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans haven’t reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling,” Bloomberg reports.
“After giving in to Obama’s previous entreaties to stay as long as needed, Geithner has indicated to White House officials and Wall Street executives that he is unlikely to change his departure plans this time, increasing pressure on the president to name his successor at Treasury.”
Boehner Wins Re-Election as Speaker
Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) was re-elected Speaker of the House after a week of rumors of a possible Republican revolt, The Hill reports.
Boehner won a bare majority in a vote that saw eight Republicans vote for other GOP members, and several others who abstained from voting or voted “present.” Two years ago, Boehner won all available 241 GOP votes.
Why the GOP Has Less Leverage Than They Think
David Brooks echoes the point I made over at The Cloakroom about why Republicans don’t have as much leverage as they think they do in the next round of budget negotiations.
“The core thing it says about them is that they want to reform entitlements and cut spending, but they can’t actually propose any plans to do these things because it would be politically unpopular. This is a terrible problem for them.”
First Openly-Bisexual Member of Congress Takes Office
The Washington Post profiles Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).
“Sinema is a bracingly unfiltered talker, a precocious achiever, a high-energy persuader, an adjunct professor, a lawyer, a marathon runner, a lover of designer clothes. She is a holder of many, many degrees — this she’s happy to tell you in a humble-braggy sort of way. And she can be a lot of fun to hang out with, a rambling, kind of kooky monologist who can pivot from whimsical and wacky to substantive and earnest without a pause.”
“Krysten Sinema is also — and it irks her to no end that this is such an object of fascination — an openly bisexual woman. And not just any openly bisexual woman, but the first openly bisexual person to be elected to Congress, an undoubtedly historic figure whose very presence on Capitol Hill could serve as an inspiration when she is sworn in Thursday and joins six openly gay and lesbian members in the most demographically diverse Congress in U.S. history.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“Maybe you can do it once, maybe you can do it twice, but when start
making deals, when you have to get Democrats to pass the legislation,
you are not in power anymore.”
— Former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL, in an interview on Fox News radio, defending the “Hastert Rule.”
Booker Would Face Primary for Senate
While coverage of the 2014 New Jersey Senate race thus far has centered on Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Roll Call notes a third Democrat is laying groundwork to run as well: Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ).
Sources say Pallone is “all but certain” to run for Senate if Lautenberg retires in 2014.
Tea Party Plots Comeback
Daily Beast: “Until last night, the conventional wisdom in Washington was that the Tea Party was on the wane … But after 85 House Republicans joined Boehner in raising taxes without spending reductions during the end game of Monday night’s fiscal-cliff negotiations, Tea Party leaders and conservative activists from around the country are dusting off their tri-corner hats and ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ signs, and now say that their members are as energized as they have ever been since the first Tax Day protests in 2009. And the Republican Party, they add, had better beware … Already, those outside the official party apparatus are considering primarying incumbents, in some cases taking on those they helped elect a mere two years ago.”
Said South Carolina GOP Chairman Chad Connelly: “If you think 2010 was the Tea Party Congress, just wait until 2014. You will see people even more angry and up in arms. I don’t think we have seen nothing yet.”
The Courage of McConnell and Boehner
Walter Shapiro: “For all the unnecessary pyrotechnics, for all the missed opportunities over the past 18 months, rationality triumphed over ideological extremism in Washington this week. And if this precedent helps prevent America from defaulting on its debts when the government runs out of borrowing power in March, so much the better. But, in the interim, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner deserve muted, but sincere, applause for bringing the anti-tax Republicans back from the brink.”
Obama Signs Fiscal Cliff Bill with Autopen
President Obama ordered “that his signature be affixed to legislation that averts the bulk of the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ and prevents federal income tax rates from rising on the vast majority of Americans,” Politico reports.
“The official copy of the high-profile bill was signed at Obama’s direction with an autopen, a device that places a facsimile of a person’s signature on a document, a senior White House official told a pool reporter accompanying the president on the second leg of his winter break in Hawaii.”
Collision 2012
Coming later this year: Collision 2012: Obama vs. Romney and the Future of Elections in America by Dan Balz and James Silberman.
Campaign Debt Weighs Down Freshman Lawmakers
“More than 40% of the 82 incoming House freshmen had more debt than leftover cash in the bank, a USA Today analysis of final election reports shows. For more than two dozen of them, the unpaid bills topped $100,000 each. Seven of the 12 new senators showed debts on their Dec. 6 reports to the Federal Election Commission. As a result, newly elected lawmakers are bombarding their supporters with pleas for campaign money and holding rounds of fundraising dinners, breakfasts and receptions — even before they are sworn in Thursday.”
The Cloakroom
An exciting announcement.
An Underappreciated Vice President
First Read: “Yes, he’s the butt of jokes and The Onion parodies. But the guy delivered in reaching across the aisle. The whole point in Obama hiring Biden was to have him as his congressional go-to guy; For some reason, many in the West Wing are hesitant to let Biden be Biden and play this role until the very last minute. While Biden allowed himself to be rolled by staffers every now and then in the West Wing, in a second term (with his own eye on the Oval), we’re guessing Biden’s going to less inclined to take a backseat come March.”
