Death of Anna Nicole Smith: Howard K. Stern & Dr. Khristine Eroshevich Found Guilty of Conspiring to Provide Drugs Using False

AP Pretends GOP Is Breaking Promises
From the professional propagandists at the Associated Press: PROMISES, PROMISES: GOP drops some out of the gate By Andrew Taylor And Calvin Woodward, Associated Press January 6, 2011 WASHINGTON - Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won’t be kept. As is their Fashion, the AP is parroting a New York Times article from yesterday. Which, as we noted in detail, was s...

Ryan Takes the Point on Fiscal Reform
With the National Debt now topping $14 Trillion, up from $13 trillion just seven months ago, and a Gallup Poll revealing the outgoing Democratic Congress to have among the lowest average Approval Ratings recorded in the last two decades, it is a great relief to hear that incoming House Republicans are planning to cut funding of their legislative offices by 5 percent. They are also cutting the House Appropriations Committee Budget by 9 percent. Both actions are part of new House Speaker John A. B...

PROMISES, PROMISES: GOP drops some out of the gate
WASHINGTON—Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won't be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won't be allowed to propose changes to the Legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic control. Is business as usual really back...

House GOP Does the Inevitable: Backtracks on Pledge to Cut $100 Billion this Year
Even if you put the close-to-impossible politics aside, any Budget wonk would have told the GOP that for purely technical reasons it was going to be almost impossible to deliver on the promise it made in its Pledge to America to cut $100 billion from the federal Budget this year. That's why it was anything but a surprise when, as Jackie Calmes noted in yesterday's New York Times, on the first day they formally took control of the House of Representatives Republicans did what every fiscal technic...

Wonkbook: Boehner's new rules; Dems' release filibuster reform proposal
I thought Speaker Boehner's Speech was quite good. He did not promise too much, which ends up being a common problem for speakers. In fact, he hardly promised anything at all. Insofar as he had an agenda, it was a procedural one: To use the House's rules in an open, neutral way; to work through the "scar tissue" that had built up between Democrats and Republicans in recent years; to administer the House without gimmicks or shortcuts; "to disagree without being disagreeable.". But so far as the ...

Republicans already breaking their promises
Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won’t be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won’t be allowed to propose changes to the Legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic control. Is business as usual really back so fa...

Republicans take over House, dilute cuts
By Thomas Ferraro and Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON | Wed Jan 5, 2011 12:45pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans scaled back plans for deep cuts in Government Spending as they took power in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, diluting a key promise that helped them to victory in November's election. A senior Republican also signaled the party could work with the administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat, to avert a Debt crisis in the coming months. "Our spending has caught up...

State Budget's Unlikely To Get Aid From Congress In 2011
WASHINGTON — Cut spending, raise taxes and fees, and accept billions of dollars from Congress. That's been the formula for states trying to survive the worst economy since the 1930s. As Republicans prepare to take control of the House and exert more influence in the Senate, it's clear that option No. 3 will soon wither. States will continue to face substantial Deficits over the next few years, but they will have to get by with the end of stimulus spending and less financial help from the...

Can the GOP serve the two constituencies of the midterms successfully?
The Republicans scored a big success in November by forging a coalition between Independents disillusioned by Democrats and Barack Obama’s false promises of Fiscal Responsibility and moderation, and energized Conservatives looking for a massive pushback against the radical agenda of Obama and Nancy Pelosi.  The GOP succeeded mainly by keeping themselves focused on the Budget Crisis and regulatory burdens that have created lingering Unemployment at the highest levels since the Great Depr...

The debt ceiling will spark 2011's first fight
Georgia’s congressional delegation became more Republican this year, partly on the promise to Repeal and replace ObamaCare.  Now, as the new congressional term begins, one of the first actions taken will likely be a vote in the House of Representatives for repeal.  This vote, however, will not mark the first real fight of 2011.  The vote for Repeal is likely to pass the Republican-held House, but its chances are far less certain in the Senate, which still has a Democratic ma...

Main promise broken literally on day one | Michael Tomasky
While House Republicans were never expected to succeed in enacting cuts of that scale, given opposition in the Senate from the Democratic majority and some Republicans, and from President Obama, a House vote would put potentially vulnerable Republican lawmakers on record supporting deep reductions of up to 30 percent in education, research, Law Enforcement, transportation and more. Now aides say that the $100 billion figure was hypothetical, and that the objective is to get annual spending for ...

Quite a start
QUITE A START.... The new House Republican majority isn't quite one-day old, but commitments they made before the Midterm Elections are already falling by the wayside. Even before House Republicans took control of the chamber Wednesday, there were at least three areas where they appear to be backtracking on promises made: Cutting $100 billion in the first year, allowing opportunities for the minority party to offer amendments on bills, and making public attendance records for committee hearing...

House Republicans dial back on promises
Washington (CNN) - Even before House Republicans took control of the chamber Wednesday, there were at least three areas where they appear to be backtracking on promises made: Cutting $100 billion in the first year, allowing opportunities for the minority party to offer amendments on bills, and making public attendance records for committee hearings. The Republicans ran for office in 2010 on a platform they titled "The Pledge to America," which states they would reduce Government Spending t...

Rhetoric v. Reality, Part III: Cut $100 billion almost immediately
Source: "A Pledge to America: The 2010 Republican Agenda", page 23 House Republicans have repeatedly promised to cut at least $100 billion in Discretionary Spending as soon as they took control of the House. The promise was part of their “Pledge to America,” the 2010 counterpart to the 1994 “Contract With America.” Speaker John Boehner reiterated it just before the election, telling the country that “We’re ready to cut spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bai...

NYT Pretends GOP Is Reneging On Cuts
From the Democrats’ lickspittle minions at the New York Times: Republicans Lower Goal for Cuts to Budget By JACKIE CALMES January 4, 2011 WASHINGTON — Many people knowledgeable about the federal budget said House Republicans could not keep their campaign promise to cut $100 billion from Domestic Spending in a single year. Now it appears that Republicans agree. What a perfect example of what passes for journalism at the New York Times. Notice that there is no evidence that many know...

No Surprise, Republicans to Break Promise on Spending Cuts
Republican leaders are scaling back that number by as much as half, aides say, because the current Fiscal Year, which began Oct. 1, will be nearly half over before Spending Cuts could become law. While House Republicans were never expected to succeed in enacting cuts of that scale, given opposition in the Senate from the Democratic majority and some Republicans, and from President Obama, a House vote would put potentially vulnerable Republican lawmakers on record supporting deep reductions of up...

PROMISES, PROMISES: GOP drops some out of the gate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won’t be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won’t be allowed to propose changes to the Legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic control. Is business as...

PROMISES, PROMISES: GOP drops some out of the gate (AP)
WASHINGTON – Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won't be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won't be allowed to propose changes to the Legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic control. Is business as usual really b...

Republicans Back Off Pledge To Cut Budget By $100 Billion
If we’ve learned anything over the last two years, it’s that we cannot spend our way to prosperity. We offer a plan to stop out-of control spending and reduce the size of government. With common-sense exceptions for seniors, Veterans, and our Troops, we will roll back Government Spending to pre-stimulus, prebailout levels, saving us at least $100 billion in the first year alone and putting us on a path to balance the Budget and pay down the Debt. But that’s not working out so w...

Republicans Would Rather Not Cut The Budget If They Can Avoid It.
Despite what you hear, It's not necessarily true that Republicans want to cut the Budget. Or rather, that they want to face the consequences of doing so. Take the new rule that gives House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan the ability to essentially write a budget resolution himself should the House fail to pass one normally. While many have criticized the plan as a power grab, the move appears to be less about giving Ryan unilateral control and more about finding a way for Republicans to avo...

America Speaking Out? New Poll Shows Problem With GOP Approach To Debt
The House GOP "Pledge to America" calls for a permanent reduction in taxes, including those for the wealthy, and exempts the defense Budget from Spending Cuts (although some conservative lawmakers, mostly in the Senate, have come around on shrinking the Pentagon's budget). Meanwhile, the incoming GOP majority is set to give "stunning and unprecedented" power to Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), whose contentious fiscal plan would effectively dismantle Social Security and Medicare. ...

Tea Party Leader: Reduction in Goal for GOP Budget Cuts is an "Absolute Joke"
(Credit: CBS) "So far so good" is how a leading Tea Party organizer characterizes the Republican ascension in Congress. CBS News spoke to Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler as he roamed the halls of the House of Representatives, delivering a welcome letter and copies of the Constitution to new and old members of Congress. "Some new rules are good thing, it's a great start to the session," he said. Meckler defended the Republicans' pledge to read the Constitution on the House floor as ...

GOP Breaking Promises in the House
(WASHINGTON) — Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won't be kept. (See The White House photo blog.) And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won't be allowed to propose changes to the Legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic co...

PROMISES, PROMISES: GOP drops some out of the gate
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio holds up the gavel during the first session of the 112th Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011. Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won't be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won't be allowed to propose changes to the l...

The $100 Billion Question, Part 2
My guess is going to be those Spending Cuts are going to be a lot less than $100 billion, especially for anybody with 2012 aspirations. Of course, that would explain why most of your 2012 GOP prospective Candidates are out of office right now, but all the GOP House will be facing voters again in two years as well. Many people knowledgeable about the federal Budget said House Republicans could not keep their campaign promise to cut $100 billion from Domestic Spending in a single year. Now it appe...