Audio: Dem Rep says Obama should create a real crisis to hike taxes on wealthy

Pelosi: Democrats will hit campaign trail with a 'spirit of optimism'
House Democratic Leaders on Thursday defended their move to Cut the legislative session short so lawmakers could return to the Campaign Trail. In the wake of Republican attacks, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her top lieutenants stood firmly behind their overhauls of healthcare, Wall Street Regulation and Student Loan policies as both historic and fiscally sound. After a flurry of votes on Wednesday and a Campaign strategy session with President Obama at the White House on Thursday,...

Record gains for US poverty with elections looming
Washington— The number of people in the U.S. who are in Poverty is on track for a record increase on President Barack Obama's watch, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on Poverty. Census Figures for 2009 -- the Recession-ravaged first year of the Democrat's presidency -- are to be released in the coming week, and demographers expect grim findings. It's unfortunate timing for Obama and his party just seven weeks before important...

Peters determined to boost economy
And U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, a Bloomfield Township Democrat, isn't a desk banger or fiery orator. He's most comfortable talking with small groups and business owners about their concerns and dreams. What he's hearing is about nightmares. "People are really anxious, and they just want folks who are out there fighting for them," he said this week. That anxiety over The Economy, the Housing Market and the jobless Rate has put a huge target on Peters' back. Swept into office The 51-year-old former...

U.S. Capitol tours keep visitors away from lawmakers
Washington — A hush falls over a group of tourists in Statuary Hall as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , surrounded by a knot of Capitol denizens, moves through the gilded chamber on the way to her office. Such by-chance encounters with the powerful used to be the norm in the U.S. Capitol as ordinary people strolled the hallways, day and night, witnessing the workaday world that goes on under that famous dome. No longer. Now, the public sees the Capitol in something of a gilded...

US House Whip-Up, Thu 9/30/10: Goodbye
Posted by Clyde Middleton on Sep 30 2010 Filed under News & Opinion , Politics . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 . You can leave a response or trackback to this entry Last night we finished business in the People’s House without protecting American families and small businesses from one of the largest Tax Increases in history. Speaker Pelosi personally cast the deciding vote to send the House home - solidifying her as the most Out of...

RACE OF THE DAY: Texas-17
In just two years, Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) has gone from rumored Vice President to just one of many Centrist Democrats fighting for their political lives. Edwards is staring down the toughest challenge he has faced in years from Republican businessman Bill Flores, and Republicans are claiming internal polling that has the challenger up double-digits over Edwards. The tight race has Edwards emphasizing his conservative roots and his willingness to stand up to his party's leadership in...

Wicked Witch of Washington Says Demonrats Hitting Campaign Trail With 'Spirit of Optimism'...
Does she really believe the BS she spouts?… (The Hill) — House Democratic leaders on Thursday defended their move to cut the legislative session short so lawmakers could return to the Campaign Trail. In the wake of Republican attacks, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her top lieutenants stood firmly behind their overhauls of healthcare, Wall Street Regulation and Student Loan policies as both historic and fiscally sound. After a flurry of votes on Wednesday and a Campaign...

Vulnerables Keep Space From Pelosi on Stump
Speaker Nancy Pelosi isnt likely to get many invitations from vulnerable House Democrats to visit their districts between now and Nov. 2. Nearly a dozen Members in tough re-election fights who were interviewed this week said they are better off keeping their distance from the California Democrat, while a handful of other Incumbents declined to discuss whether they thought Pelosi would be an asset to them on the Campaign Trail. '); Freshman Rep. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.), who in August...

And They're Out Congress Flees Unfinished Business, Partisan Sniping, For Campaign Trail
Source: Associated Press Washington (AP) -- Battle-weary members of Congress are coming soon to neighborhoods near you to Press for re-election, more willing to Campaign before angry constituents than to Compromise in Washington on Tax Cuts, child nutrition or a federal Budget. Democratic congressional leaders decided to call off Controversial votes on taxes and President Barack Obama's latest spending requests and instead pass a temporary bill to keep the government running through November....

The Pelosi-Reid Deficits
The Pelosi-Reid Deficits Steve Moore writes in the Wall Street Journal: During a recent Press Conference, President Obama blamed George W. Bush for the nation’s fiscal condition. “When I walked in,” he declared, “wrapped in a nice bow was a $1.3 Trillion Deficit sitting right there on my doorstep.” Earlier this year he asserted that “we came in with $8 Trillion worth of Debt over the next decade.” Neither statement is correct, according to the...

Rogue Dems Buck Party, Save Seniors
House Democrats adjourned this week without a vote on extending the Bush Tax Cuts set to expire in January. While they seem content to blame Republican leadership for the failure, it turns out that a group of Democratic House members bucked party leadership to join with the GOP in a move aimed at protecting Senior Citizens from a massive Tax hike and quite possibly indicating an eventual Bipartisan kill-off of President Obama’s Tax agenda . Led by Rep. John Adler, D-N.J., the 47 House...

Senate No Time For Budget or to Extend Bush Tax Cuts But Has Time to Regulate Volume of TV Commercials
Stay CALM everyone. ( Yahoo ) — Legislation to turn down the volume on those loud TV commercials that send couch potatoes diving for their remote controls looks like it’ll soon become law. The Senate unanimously passed a bill late Wednesday to require Television stations and cable companies to keep commercials at the same volume as the programs they interrupt. The House has passed similar Legislation. Before it can become law, minor differences between the two versions have to be...

Feudin'
I notice that former Karl Rove aide Pete Wehner, in response to what I concede to be numerous provocations, has undertaken an anti-Chait campaign of sorts. The campaign works the same way these things worked when Wehner was sitting at Rove’s knee in the Bush White House: you grasp ahold of some fragment of what your target said, tear it out of context, and then repeat it endlessly. So, earlier this week Wehner posted this : Some Liberals — including the New Republic...

74 GOP members defect as China bill passes the House
In a vote that divided House Republicans, the chamber on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved Legislation meant to hammer China for its currency policy. The Legislation, meant to pressure China into boosting the value of its currency, passed in a 348-79 vote. Ninety-nine Republicans voted for the measure while 74 opposed it, and the vote split GOP Leaders from Rep. Dave Camp (Mich.), who could become chairman of the Ways and Means Committee if the GOP takes back the House this fall. Minority...

Boehner urges congressional reform as vote nears (AP)
Washington – Jettisoning partisan campaign-season Rhetoric, if only for a moment, House Republican Leader John Boehner said Thursday that both parties bear the blame for "dysfunction in Congress" and urged lawmakers to adopt a Cut-as-you-go-rule to curb their appetite for spending on new federal programs. The Ohio Republican spoke hours after engineering a final partisan, pre-election showdown on the House floor, and one senior Democrat, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, swiftly denounced him...

Boehner urges congressional reform as vote nears
Washington — Jettisoning partisan campaign-season Rhetoric, if only for a moment, House Republican Leader John Boehner said Thursday that both parties bear the blame for "dysfunction in Congress" and urged lawmakers to adopt a Cut-as-you-go-rule to curb their appetite for spending on new federal programs. The Ohio Republican spoke hours after engineering a final partisan, pre-election showdown on the House floor, and one senior Democrat, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, swiftly denounced...

Obama To Lecture Dem Leaders Before They Leave To Campaign
The Hill: President Obama will meet with Democratic Leaders One last time on Thursday before a Midterm Election that could decimate their numbers on Capitol Hill. Obama is expected to talk about a variety of issues along with what the party should do going forward, the White House said Thursday. “Its just One more opportunity to talk to some of his allies on Capitol Hill before they go out for the Election,” said White House spokesman Bill Burton. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...

Emanuel's departure unlikely to reset Obama's presidency
Washington — White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is expected to resign Friday, accelerating a Midterm staff exodus that will give President Barack Obama a chance to hit the reset button on his politically beleaguered presidency. The departure of Emanuel, who will be heralded by Obama personally in a morning ceremony in the White House East Room, is the highest profile of several farewells that have included his top Budget adviser, two of his top economic advisers and will soon...

House Overwhelmingly Passes Trade Sanctions Bill Targeted At China
Washington (AP) -- The House has approved Legislation that would allow the U.S. to seek Trade sanctions against China and other nations for manipulating their currency to gain Trade advantages. The 348-79 vote Wednesday sends the measure to the Senate, where its prospects are unclear. Senate supporters hope to get a vote on a similar proposal after Congress returns following the November congressional Elections. Supporters said the bill would allow the Obama Administration to pressure China on...

SPECIAL PREVIEW: Liberals and the Surge
In early January 2007, 71 percent of Americans said the Iraq War was going moderately badly to very badly. Indeed, the War had been unpopular for much of the previous years, at times deeply so. But by this past September, a nationwide Pew survey found “a striking rise in public optimism about the situation in Iraq.” According to the poll, 58 percent of Americans now believe the War in Iraq is going well or very well, and the same percentage now also say that the U.S. will...

Dems Skip Town To Campaign, Leaving Americans To Worry About Looming Tax Increases
The New York Times writes today, Congress on Thursday adopted a stopgap spending measure to finance the government through Dec. 3 as lawmakers dashed for an earlier-than-expected exodus from Washington and headed home to focus on the Midterm Elections. . . . The last day of the brief September session was as notable for what did not get done as for what did. Neither chamber voted on the expiring Bush-era Tax Cuts as Democrats skipped a politically treacherous debate and Republicans...

Geithner on the Economy, Politics and More
By Damian Paletta Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner spoke for roughly a half hour at The Washington Ideas Forum hosted by The Atlantic and the Aspen Institute on Thursday. Here are some points he made during his appearance: 1) If you start with what we think is good politics rather than what we think is good policy, its irresponsible and it wont be good for your politics long term. 2) We think theres still a very strong case for more work by Washington to make the...