Wonkbot Will Take Its Terror To TeeVees Jeopardy

House Republican will try to derail repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'
Never mind that nearly 80% of all Americans supported the Repeal of the Military's discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Republicans must bow to -- or pander to, take your pick -- their Teabagger overlords: A member of the House Armed Services Committee plans to introduce Legislation next week designed to put the brakes on Repeal of the military’s ban on Openly Gay Troops. The measure by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) would add the four military service chiefs to the list of those...

Tea Party Patriots head to D.C. for health care vote
Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin is coming to Washington Tuesday to celebrate the House vote on Repeal of Health Care reform law -- and perhaps also to remind House Republican leadership of how they got their majority. Martin will be at a Press Conference Tuesday afternoon, the day before the Repeal vote, along with Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa), Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas). Tea Party Leaders have been watching House GOP moves closely, and calling them o...

Reconciliation
Recap: There's no such thing as 'the job-killing health-care bill'; the Repeal vote is not the most important thing happening to the law right now; and Bruce Reed joins the White House. 1) Paul Krugman takes a long look at Europe. 2) "Maybe such organizations simply can’t be based in Washington and also be intellectually honest. After all, when politics and economics meet, politics always wins." 4) I'll be talking about the health-care Repeal effort on Countdown with Chris Hayes (yes, I wr...

Another Way the GOP Could Go About Repealing Health Care Reform
I’ve been saying that the ACA Repeal vote now scheduled in the House for next week is basically a symbolic payoff to Tea Partiers and other core Republicans, who the leadership hopes can be bought off with symbols since their real goal—full Repeal of ACA—is unrealistic in the current Congress. Note that there was another track Republicans could have taken. Rather than go for a full Repeal that will be dead on arrival in the Senate, Republicans could have targeted the least pop...

Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton Attend Richard Holbrooke Memorial Service
After Tucson Shootings, a New Start for Congress? Unlikely Are Record Retail Sales Good for U.S. Consumers? The GOP's health-care Repeal: Tactless timing?...

Marist poll: More want health reform expanded than repealed
Last month, a CNN poll on health reform found that about a quarter of those who opposed the reform did so because it wasn't liberal enough, "including about twice as many Independents as Democrats who wish it were more liberal." Another just released Marist Poll reinforces that finding, among other results. Greg Sargent reports on the Health Care findings. No one should be under any illusions: The health law is unpopular. But the picture is complicated. Marist: Which one of the following comes ...

Faux Repeal; Faux Right
Bernstein suspects Republicans aren't serious about healthcare Repeal: Republicans certainly didn't hesitate to oppose the bill in 2009-2010 despite the support from several groups who are normally GOP-aligned or at least GOP-friendly. Will they fight against the interests of those groups now? Will they, if they win full control of Congress and perhaps the White House in the near future? I don't know.  What I do know, or at least suspect, is that industry Lobbyists aren't...

The Entitlement Debate
I don’t like being on the other side of a debate from (my sometime co-author!) Yuval Levin, either. But let’s head straight to the disagreements. Yuval writes that “a strategy of taking no action and blaming Obama for inaction would be a little peculiar.” What’s peculiar about Republicans’ saying that they hope Obama moves on entitlements and stand willing to work with him if he does-and to work with his successor if he doesn’t? Yuval writes that h...

Cross spreads rumors about tax hike, death penalty repeal
* I heard this rumor the other day and ran it down pretty darned thoroughly over a couple of days. As far as I can tell, it’s bunk… Tom Cross said he’s hearing Quinn made a deal to get votes for the big tax hike in exchange for promising to sign the bill abolishing he death penalty. “You know, they were having a tough time getting the votes in the House and the Senate, so I’m told, and in exchange for a number of folks voting in exchange a number of folks voting w...

GOP Push To Repeal ObamaCare Will Resume Next Week
House Republican leaders said Thursday that they will begin their effort to Repeal the new health-care law next week, a return to normal legislative business after the shootings in Arizona suspended activity on Capitol Hill. But no one quite knows what normal will look like, following a wrenching week in which members confronted concerns about their own safety and whether their heated Rhetoric played any role in last Saturday's shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 18 others. As Gi...

New Marist Poll Has Great News for Obama, Health Care Reform!
Now these are the kind of poll results I like to see! Key findings of the just-released Marist Poll (polling conducted 1/6-1/10, prior to Obama's extremely well-received Speech in Arizona the other day): *By a 53%-40% margin, Registered Voters have a "favorable impression" of Barack Obama. Among Democrats it's 85%-9%, among Independents it's 53%-42%, and among Republicans it's 14%-76%. *Registered voters approve of Obama's job performance by a 48%-43% margin, including 44%-44% among independen...

Poll: More want health law expanded than fully repealed
Earlier this month, some on the right got very excited by a Gallup Poll finding that a plurality, 46 percent, want the health law repealed, versus only 40 percent who want to keep it in place. That poll, however, only presented two options: Repeal, or let the law stand as is. Today brings a new Marist Poll that takes a more fine grained look at public attitudes towards repeal, and its results are quite different. No one should be under any illusions: The health law is unpopular. But the pictur...

75% of Voters want health care changed
Scott Rasmussen released a new poll that reveals 75% of Likely Voters want the new Health Care law changed. However with the overwhelming majority of voters wanting change to the Health Care law, there is substantial disagreement among voters about how best to go about it. A couple of things we should note concerning the Rasmussen Poll. While 75% are in favor of changing the Health Care law, only 18% want it left alone. Rasmussen goes on to say, “ Those figures include 20% who want the l...

Health Care Repeal Debate Back On (The Atlantic Wire)
WASHINGTON, DC – It didn't take long for the debate to be rescheduled. Members of Congress were expected to begin debate this week over a Repeal of Obama's Health Care reform law. In response to last weekend's shooting in Arizona, the discussion was postponed, but House Republicans confirmed today that the show will go on next week. Many Congress members are particularly passionate about Health Care reform. Some Democrats have pushed to hold out on igniting the potentially heated debate...

18 Percent of Voters Like Obamacare as It Is
Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you. A new Rasmussen Poll of Likely Voters shows that fewer than one in five Americans -- 18 percent -- want to keep ObamaCare as it is. The 75 percent who don't want to keep ObamaCare in its current form (the remainder are Undecided) are pretty evenly split among three options -- repealing it and not replacing it (20 percent), repealing it and replacing it (28 percent), and trying to fix it (27 percent) -- with Repeal-and-replace being ...

Hate Groups Back Pawlenty On DADT
"I think he's showing that he is more willing to listen to the voices of combat personnel and leaders than the current administration -- and certainly more so than are the members of Congress, who recklessly rushed to Repeal a law that enjoyed such widespread support among the Military." - Elaine Donnelly of the Center For Military Readiness, responding to former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's pledge to reinstate DADT should he become president. Numerous other anti-gay groups have praised Pawle...

House GOP sets new date to vote on health care law repeal
House Republicans say they will vote to Repeal the Health Care reform law on Wednesday, after taking a week off to show respect for those injured and killed in Arizona last weekend. "This week, our thoughts and prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords, her family, the Victims of this inexplicable tragedy and their families," said Laena Fallon, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's spokeswoman. However, she said Congress needed to get back to fighting for the Repeal of the law. "Americans have legit...

RE: The Entitlement Debate
Thanks for the good response, Ramesh. I guess we have different understandings of “trying and failing.” The House Budget resolution does not become law, regardless of what is in it. It also will not be adopted in the Senate—it will surely include various things that will prevent its adoption in the Senate, among them a Repeal of ObamaCare. In this divided Congress, it will serve as a statement of objectives, principles, and long-term vision (as the Budget resolution often does)...

Hunter tries to slow 'don't ask' repeal
A Republican congressman is working on a bill that would slow, or perhaps stop altogether, the Pentagon’s ability to implement the Repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning gays serving openly in the Military. The repeal, approved by Congress last month, requires the president, the Defense Secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to certify that implementation won’t affect military readiness before moving ahead. Continue Reading Te...

Nancy Duff Campbell: Now It's Time to Lift the Restrictions on Women's Military Service
The recent Repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" restriction on Military service is an important advance both for National Security and for Civil Rights. As President Obama said in heralding repeal, "It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by Sexual Orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed." But wait. In the military, the exercise of these values is still officially limited by gender. It's time to lift the remaining gender restrict...

Calif. gov. wants to repeal new tax law
SACRAMENTO, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- California Gov. Jerry Brown says he wants to Repeal a tax provision analysts say could give California companies an incentive to create out-of-state jobs. The provision, which took effect last week, involves a $1 billion Corporate Tax break intended to spur job growth. However, a report from the non-partisan state Legislative Analyst's Office says the law includes a clause giving those companies an even bigger enticement to create those jobs out of state. It is that ...

Maines new governor clashes with NAACP
Gov. Paul LePage of Maine said Friday that the state’s N.A.A.C.P. leaders could “kiss my butt” after they questioned his decision not to attend Martin Luther King Day events in Bangor and Portland. The remark by Mr. LePage, a newly elected Republican, came after The Portland Press Herald reported Friday that the N.A.A.C.P. felt increasingly slighted by him. Leaders of the group’s Maine chapters told the newspaper that Mr. LePage had declined several invitations from them ...

Surprise, surprise - Rep. Duncan Hunter filing bill to halt implementation of DADT repeal
It's like a bad Sitcom; one so bad that the writers hand the script out to the audience so they can read the punchlines and sob at how sh*tty the writing is. One of the authors of this particular flaming turd of a script is California Congressman Duncan Hunter, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Did I mention he's a Republican? He is attempting to best serve his constituents' needs (I guess economic issues in the Golden State aren't top priority) by focusing on how to keep the so...

Duncan Hunter Will Try To Undermine Dont Ask, Dont Tell Repeal With Amend. Opposed By Military
Duncan Hunter Will Try To Undermine Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal With Amend. Opposed By Military Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr. (R-CA) ...

Four proposed security measures that won't work
Jason Linkins has written a piece for the Huffington Post about the members of Congress who've come up with ideas for Legislation designed to prevent what happened in Tucson from ever happening again. The problem all these ideas have in common, he points out, is that nobody has yet been able to get a handle on what actually caused the events. Instead, every proposal has been -- though well-intentioned -- reactionary, and not feasible in the long term. As he puts it, "a slow and thought...