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House GOP Gambles on Pledge to Balance Budget

January 24, 2013 at 8:07 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Stepping up their austerity campaign, House Republicans plan to demand far deeper spending cuts from President Obama to balance the federal budget in just 10 years, an extraordinary goal that would hit Medicare and other safety-net programs,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) “agreed to the dramatic initiative to coax reluctant rank-and-file lawmakers Wednesday to approve a temporary suspension of the $16.4-trillion debt limit without any cuts in spending.”

The Hill: “Democrats eyeing a takeover of the House in 2014 view the move as a gift, since the GOP budget plan will likely make deeper cuts to popular government programs that any leadership-backed blueprint has before.”

Democrats Launch Plan to Make Texas a Swing State

January 24, 2013 at 8:05 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

National Democrats “are taking steps to create a large-scale independent group aimed at turning traditionally conservative Texas into a prime electoral battleground, crafting a new initiative to identify and mobilize progressive voters in the rapidly-changing state,” Politico reports.

“The organization, dubbed ‘Battleground Texas,’ plans to engage the state’s rapidly growing Latino population, as well as African-American voters and other Democratic-leaning constituencies that have been underrepresented at the ballot box in recent cycles. Two sources said the contemplated budget would run into the tens of millions of dollars over several years – a project Democrats hope has enough heft to help turn what has long been an electoral pipe dream into reality.”

Obama Picks New Bank Regulators

January 24, 2013 at 7:26 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Obama will nominate Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, “tapping an attorney with broad experience in prosecuting white-collar crimes to lead an agency that has a central role in implementing Wall Street reform,” the AP reports.

Obama will also “renominate Richard Cordray to serve as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau… The president used a recess appointment last year to circumvent Congress and install Cordray as head of the bureau. That appointment expires at the end of this year.”

Bipartisan Filibuster Deal Close

January 24, 2013 at 5:17 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Senate Democratic and Republican leaders are nearing an agreement on new limits to the filibuster, an effort to speed action in the often-clogged chamber by prohibiting senators from using a common tactic to slow the legislative process,” the New York Times reports.

“Lawmakers and aides said the new rules, which both sides were preparing to announce on Thursday, would end the use of a procedural tactic that forces the majority party — Democrats currently — to marshal 60 votes to even bring a bill to the floor, sometimes killing it before it ever gets debated.”

Boehner Says Obama Seeks to “Annihilate” the GOP

January 23, 2013 at 3:38 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he believes the primary goal of President Obama’s second term is to “annihilate the Republican Party,” The Hill reports.

Said Boehner: “Given what we heard yesterday about the president’s vision for his second term, it’s pretty clear to me that he knows he can’t do any of that as long as the House is controlled by Republicans. So we’re expecting over the next 22 months to be the focus of this administration as they attempt to annihilate the Republican Party.”

He added: “And let me just tell you, I do believe that is their goal — to just shove us into the dustbin of history.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

January 23, 2013 at 3:34 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I wish you the best in your future endeavors…mostly.”

— Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), at today’s hearings on Benghazi.

Panetta Lifts Ban on Women in Combat

January 23, 2013 at 3:32 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta “is removing the military’s ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war,” the AP reports.

Booker Would Crush Lautenberg in Senate Primary

January 23, 2013 at 2:20 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Quinnipiac poll finds Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) crushing Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in a hypothetical Democratic primary, 51% to 30%.

Meanwhile, a Merriman River poll shows Booker leading 48% to 21%.

House Votes to Suspend Debt Ceiling

January 23, 2013 at 1:50 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The House voted “to approve legislation suspending the debt ceiling for three months, a move that will allow the government to keep paying its bills and give lawmakers breathing room for long-term budget negotiations,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The House bill, which needs a Senate vote and the president’s signature, requires the Senate to pass a budget by mid-April and threatens to withhold lawmakers’ pay if it fails to do so.”

New York Times: “The debt ceiling legislation — mindful of constitutional hurdles imposed
by the 27th Amendment on Congressional pay — would simply impound
lawmaker salaries until a budget is passed or the 113th Congress ends,
whichever comes first. And it would not require the House and the Senate
to come to a compromise on the two spending and tax blueprints, which
are likely to be very different. That will be the really difficult task.”

Financial Times: Republicans seek to avoid debt backlash.

Clinton’s Next Chapter

January 23, 2013 at 12:15 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Daily News:. “For 20 years, Clinton has been a fixture in Washington,
capturing the nation’s attention as First Lady, a U.S. senator from New
York and secretary of state… But next week, she will reclaim her
private life. After logging nearly 1 million miles and visiting 110
countries as the nation’s top diplomat, she will step down from the
State Department to relax and recharge… The big question now is
whether her departure from the Obama administration is her farewell to
public service — or if she’ll back in four years on the same stage for
her own inauguration as Madame President.”

Fox News: Will Clinton’s Benghazi testimony put questions to rest?

Dinner with Churchill

January 23, 2013 at 12:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Just published: Dinner with Churchill: Policy-Making at the Dinner Table by Cita Stelzer.

Bonus Quote of the Day

January 23, 2013 at 11:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I’ve got news for the president: Absolutes do exist. Words do have
specific meaning in language and in law. It’s the basis of all
civilization… Without those absolutes, without those protections,
democracy decays into nothing more than two wolves and one lamb voting
on, well, who to eat for lunch.”

— National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre, quoted by Politico, responding to President Obama’s inaugural address.

Is Obama on a Path Towards Greatness?

January 23, 2013 at 11:21 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Nate Silver: “Mr. Obama ran for and won a second term, something only about half of the men to serve as president have done (the tally is 20 or 21 out of 43, depending on how you count Grover Cleveland). We can also note, however, that Mr. Obama’s re-election margin was relatively narrow. Do these simple facts provide any insight at all into how he might be regarded 20, 50 or 100 years from now?”

“Over all, there is a positive relationship between a president’s performance in the Electoral College when seeking a second term, and how the historians have ranked him. (The regression line in the chart below predicts that Mr. Obama will eventually come to be regarded as about the 17th-best president, somewhere on the boundary between good and average.) But it is an extremely rough guide — especially for the presidents who are successful in winning a second term, and who have an opportunity to enhance or undermine their reputations. Voters may judge a president’s first term, but history will judge his second.”

LePage Unpopular But Could Win Anyway

January 23, 2013 at 10:51 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Maine finds Gov. Paul LePage (R), with a 39% to 55% approval rating, is one of the most unpopular governors in the country.

But he could win re-election in 2014 anyway for the same reason that he won in the first place: He leads in all three-way races tested against a Democrat and an independent. But he loses handily in all two-way traditional match ups.

Capito Way Ahead in West Virginia

January 23, 2013 at 10:41 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Harper Polling survey in West Virginia finds Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) well-positioned in her run for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).

Capito leads Nick Rahall, 50% to 32%, tops Carte Goodwin (D), 53% to 19%, and beats Robin Davis (D), 51% to 24%.

Democrats Grumble About Obama’s Permanent Campaign

January 23, 2013 at 10:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Beth Reinhard:
“Even as Democrats relish President Obama’ second inauguration, some
party leaders are worried about whether the campaign’s decision to form
its own advocacy group will hamstring future generations of Democratic
candidates… Some activists foresee a power struggle between the national
party, which aims to elect Democrats above all else, and the new group,
which aims to build the president’s legacy — and may have to pressure
wavering swing-state Democrats to tow the unapologetically liberal
agenda laid out in his inauguration speech.”

GOP Tries to Regroup

January 23, 2013 at 10:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

As the Republican National Committee meets for their annual meeting, the Charlotte Observer sets the stage:

“For most Republicans, November was grim. They lost the White
House and all but one battleground state. They lost seats in Congress.
They saw America’s fastest-growing minority groups reject their party.
But in North Carolina it was a happier story… A presentation scheduled
for Thursday is called ‘Success in N.C.: A Blueprint for the Future.’
But how much of that blueprint can be replicated is debatable.”

Clinton to Testify on Benghazi

January 23, 2013 at 9:18 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NBC News:
“The political stakes will be high Wednesday morning when Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee about her role in the events leading up to the September
attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted
in the killing of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
The stakes will also be high for a Republican member of the committee,
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, whom some pundits see as a possible
presidential candidate in 2016. It will be a rare instance when one
potential White House hopeful gets an opportunity to interrogate a
potential rival from the opposing party. Clinton herself is thought to
be a strong contender for the Democratic nomination, should she chose to
throw her hat into the ring.”

Rick Klein: “It’s not the way she wanted to go out. After a two-decade career in the national political limelight — as first lady, as a senator, and now as secretary of state — Hillary Rodham Clinton’s final official act with a title in front of her name is likely to come today, as she testifies about a tragic embarrassment of an episode that left four Americans dead in Libya.”

Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations at 9:00 am ET and
the House Foreign Affairs Committee at 2:00 pm ET.