Sen.-elect Cory Booker (D-NJ) is set to become the most junior senator on Halloween, Roll Call reports.
He will be sworn in by Vice President Joseph Biden at noon on Oct. 31.
GOP Roots for Failure
Juliet Lapidos: “In theory, lawmakers should hope that government programs work well, and if they don’t, work to fix them. Elected representatives should hope that government agencies carry out their missions smoothly, and if something goes wrong, try to figure out what happened to avoid making the same mistake in the future.”
“Obviously that’s not how things work in the United States, where one of the two parties doesn’t actually believe in government. Republicans want to shrink government until it’s small enough to drown in a bathtub! They think there’s nothing scarier than the prospect of a government employee trying to help! With beliefs like those, it’s perhaps not surprising that — with disturbing frequency — they root for failure in order to score points.”
Reid Says No Grand Bargain
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that he expected little more from the formal House-Senate budget conference than some relief from automatic spending cuts under sequestration, Roll Call reports.
He added that the suggestion of a “grand bargain” including an overhaul of entitlement programs was nothing more than “happy talk.”
Said Reid: “I hope that we can do some stuff to get rid of sequestration and go on to do some sensible budgets — budgeteering. I’ve got a wonderful leader of my Budget Committee, Patty Murray from the state of Washington, and I feel pretty comfortable that she’ll do a good job for us, but … I hope there would be a grand bargain, but I don’t see that happening.”
Gansler Says He Made Mistake Not Breaking Up Teen Party
Under scrutiny for his presence at a party where teens said there was underage drinking, Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler (D) said that in retrospect, he should have done more to intervene, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Said Gansler: “Perhaps I should have assumed there was drinking in the home, and I got that wrong.”
But he said firmly he will remain a candidate in the Democratic race for governor: “We’re in it. We’re going to win it.”
Obama Pushes for Immigration Reform
I was on MSNBC this morning talking about the politics around President Obama’s push for immigration reform.
Lhota Predicts Crime Wave if De Blasio Wins
New York City mayoral candidate Joe Lhota (R) warned yet again that Bill de Blasio (D) would usher in a new crime wave if he’s elected, Politicker reports.
When asked if he would fear for his personal safety were de Blasio to win the race, Lhota was unequivocal: “Absolutely.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“If the Web site glitches are just the tip of the iceberg. it’s only a matter of time before the law sinks and takes with it
those Democrats who wrote it, voted for it and are proud of it.”
— Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), quoted by the New York Times.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I really believe he needs to, you know, man up, step up.”
— Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN), quoted by WCCO, urging President Obama to fire someone over the bungled Obamacare exchange rollout.
Budget Conference Set for Next Week
National Journal:
“The 29 members of the budget conference committee are formally set to
hold their first meeting next Wednesday, with the panel facing a
deadline of Dec. 13 for coming up with a report of recommendations for
the full House and Senate.”
Republicans Line Up to Depose Reid
“There’s a long list of Nevada politicians clogging the state’s pipeline to Congress, but any massive movement hinges largely on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s fate in 2016,” Roll Call reports.
“Reid reigns as the undisputed power broker for state Democrats — and he’s also the Republicans’ top target in 2016.”
Democrats Hold Lead in Generic Ballot
A new Fox News poll finds Democrats leading Republicans in the generic congressional ballot by eight points, 45% to 37%.
Also interesting: 46% of voters think a random selection of everyday Americans could do a better job on the country’s problems than Congress.
Quote of the Day
“The American people are going to demand a fight in January. Look, when this thing goes into full effect, some of those people will
go, ‘Why didn’t y’all stand tighter? Why did y’all let this happen?'”
— Rep. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), quoted by Politico, predicting another showdown over Obamacare when the threat of another government shutdown may re-surface.
GOP Establishment Fights Back
Beth Reinhard:
“It took a tea party insurrection that disabled the federal government
and wrecked the Republican brand, but after months of handwringing,
establishment Republicans are preparing to attack ultra-conservative
ideologues across red America. From Alabama to Alaska, the center-right,
business-oriented wing of the Republican Party is gearing up for a
series of skirmishes that it hopes can prevent the 2014 mid-term
election from turning into another missed opportunity.”
“But this will not
be a coordinated operation. It will be messy, ugly, and prone to
backfiring. And if the comeback succeeds, it will be in fits and starts,
most likely culminating in the selection of a presidential nominee in
2016.”
Connolly Holds Lead for Boston Mayor
A new Boston Globe poll finds John Connolly holds an 8 point lead over Martin Walsh in the race for Boston mayor, 44% to 36%.
Key takeaway: “The poll found that most voters are only now focusing on the campaign to succeed Mayor Thomas M. Menino and that both candidates are held in high regard, suggesting fortunes could shift swiftly with less than two weeks before the election.”
Texas Republicans Greet Cruz as a Hero
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “may be the most reviled man in the U.S. Senate at the moment, not least among his Republican colleagues. He was the face and voice of the government shutdown strategy that brought the nation to the brink of default on its debt and left his party with its lowest poll ratings ever, while doing nothing to halt the implementation of the new health-care law,” the Washington Post reports.
“But back in Texas, there is a different reality. During the past week, Cruz has been greeted as a conquering hero, with a round of triumphal public appearances and welcome-home rallies… Even more extraordinary is the degree to which the freshman senator — who until 2012 had never run for public office — has quickly remade the Texas Republican Party in his own image.”
Meanwhile, the New York Times has a must-read piece on Cruz’s wife who “seems to be just the sort of person the Tea Party supporters who celebrate her husband’s anti-establishment positions love to hate.”
Issa to Introduce Immigration Bill
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) told Politico he “is planning to release legislation next week that would provide legal status for six years to undocumented immigrants in the United States.”
“Issa, an influential Republican who leads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, described the legislation as a ‘come-from-the-shadows’ effort that would allow the government to do a full accounting of those who are in the U.S. illegally. Immigrants in this new status would be able to travel to their native country while on this temporary visa, he said.”
Meanwhile, USA Today reports President Obama will also turn his attention today “to what has become his top legislative priority: Immigration.”
Re-Evaluating Dick Cheney
Jonathan Karl reviews Peter Baker’s Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House.
“Mr. Baker, a White House reporter for the New York Times, has pulled off something of a journalistic miracle: He has written a thorough, engaging and fair history on the Bush-Cheney White House, the most polarizing presidency since Johnson’s (Andrew, not Lyndon), with the possible exception of the current one. Mr. Baker chronicles the astonishing influence of Mr. Cheney, but unlike so many other writers, he doesn’t fall for the popular caricature of the vice president as a sinister force controlling a hapless president.”
Democrats Join in Criticism of Obamacare Rollout
“The rocky rollout of the Affordable Care Act again came under sharp criticism Wednesday, three weeks into the launch, but this time some of the loudest voices were among top Democrats, including President Obama’s closest allies,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Wonk Wire: Individual mandate gets a tweak.
