Democrats

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Boehner to Dems: Cut 'Trillions' ... or Else

Speaker wants Medicaid part of the 'conversation' to boost debt limit

(Newser) - House Speaker John Boehner has warned Democrats to agree to at least $2 trillion in budget cuts or GOP legislators won't back measures to raise the federal debt ceiling, he told a rapt crowd of Wall Streeters and political leaders yesterday. He also insisted that Medicare is still on...

Democrats Nearly Trick GOP Into Legislative Blunder

They tried to dupe Republicans into adopting ultra-conservative budget

(Newser) - Democrats tried to pull a fast one today on Republicans on the House floor, reports Talking Points Memo . Before Paul Ryan's budget blueprint passed , a far more conservative offering from the Republican Study Committee came up for a vote, one that called for much deeper cuts in spending and...

Where Are the Adults in DC?
 Where Are the Adults in DC? 
NICHOLAS KRISTOF

Where Are the Adults in DC?

Both parties are 'incompetent and cowardly,' says Kristof

(Newser) - Both the Democrats and Republicans are acting like squabbling adolescents, slams Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times . "It’s unclear where the adults are, but they don’t seem to be in Washington," he says, adding "it’s painful how vapid the discourse is and how...

Schumer to Fellow Dems: Call Republicans 'Extreme'

Oops, reporters were listening in on the conference call

(Newser) - Chuck Schumer's mini-gaffe on a conference call today is still bouncing around the political blogs. It began when Schumer—unaware reporters were on the line—gave talking points to Democrats about how to characterize Republicans in the budget fight: “I always use the word extreme,” he said, as...

Indiana House Democrats End Walkout
 Democrats Return to Indiana 

Democrats Return to Indiana

State House lawmakers end walkout after almost 6 weeks

(Newser) - Indiana's House Democrats are back after one of the longest legislature walkouts in American history. The lawmakers—who fled to Illinois last month to deny the GOP a quorum on a controversial vote—returned from an absence of nearly six weeks after Republicans agreed to shelve some anti-union measures, the...

Racial Flap in 2008 Was Vintage Ferraro

Joan Walsh: Her tactless remarks on Obama served a purpose

(Newser) - News of Geraldine Ferraro's death has inevitably called attention to the flap she caused in 2008 when she said this of then-candidate Barack Obama: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of color, he would not be...

Dana Milbank: Anthony Weiner Is the Only Democrat Fighting for Health Care
 Weiner's the 
 Only Dem in 
 Health Brawl 



Dana Milbank

Weiner's the Only Dem in Health Brawl

Dana Milbank: Only he is standing up to Republican attacks on law

(Newser) - Republicans keep attacking health care reform, and with one loud exception, Democrats have been "passive to the point of wimpy" in defending it, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post . That exception? "Brooklyn-born streetfighter" Anthony Weiner. "I don't represent the hide-under-the-desk wing of the Democratic Party,"...

Election 2012: Republicans in Good Shape to Take Senate Majority
 GOP in Good Shape 
 to Take Senate Majority 
election 2012

GOP in Good Shape to Take Senate Majority

Republicans need a net gain of 3 seats, and 5 Dem-held seats are toss-ups

(Newser) - Thanks in part to a rash of Democrats retiring from the Senate , things are looking pretty good for the Republicans in 2012. In the first edition of its 2012 race ratings, The Hill places five seats currently held by Democrats in the “toss-up” column—and Republicans only need a...

Fleeing Dems Join Long Tradition

Maryland legislators latest to follow Wisconsin's lead

(Newser) - As Wisconsin and Indiana Democrats take refuge outside state lines, Maryland legislators have followed their lead: a pair of delegates played hooky this week as their fellow committee members met to discuss a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. Democrats were left in the lurch as they battled to keep...

Another Democratic Senator, Hawaii's Akaka, Is Retiring

86-year-old opts to retire at end of this term

(Newser) - Democrats have another open Senate seat to defend: Daniel Akaka of Hawaii says he won't run for re-election in 2012, reports the Honolulu Advertiser . The 86-year-old is a beloved political figure in Hawaii, having served in the Senate since 1990 and in the House for 14 years before that. He...

Indiana Democrats Flee to Illinois, Too

They don't want to vote on an anti-union bill, either

(Newser) - See if this sounds familiar: Democratic lawmakers in Indiana who don't want to vote on an anti-union bill have fled to Illinois, reports the Indianapolis Star , which notes that a few might head to Kentucky. Like their counterparts in Wisconsin, the Democrats are seeking sanctuary out of state so the...

AWOL Lawmakers Get Advice: Arrange Conjugal Visits

Wisconsin standoff has no end in sight, and Texas lawmakers know the feeling

(Newser) - Wisconsin's weird version of a filibuster continues with no end in sight. The Democrats who fled the state to delay a vote on an anti-union bill say they're willing to stay on the lam for weeks, protesters clogged the capital for the fourth straight day, schools remained closed, and the...

Democrats Bet on South, Pick Charlotte for 2012

'People's Convention' will be in North Carolina

(Newser) - Democrats have picked Charlotte, NC, as the site of the 2012 convention, which the AP sees as a signal that the Obama campaign intends to fight hard to retain the gains it made in traditional GOP territory in 2008. Obama became the first Democrat to take the state since 1976,...

Limbaugh: Loughner Has Democrats' 'Full Support'

Rush thinks lefties don't want him convicted of murder

(Newser) - Sure, Jared Loughner might have shot a Democrat, but in Rush Limbaugh's fevered imagination, Democrats are in his corner and trying to get him off the hook. "What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country," Limbaugh declared...

Only 31% of Americans Call Themselves Democrats

Republican identification inches up to 29%

(Newser) - The number of people who consider themselves Democrats has plunged to its lowest level in more than two decades, to just 31%, according to a Gallup analysis of several polls. That ties the lowest score the donkeys have ever received since Gallup began polling in 1988—and a big drop...

Democrats' New Hero (for a Day): Joe Lieberman

He draws raves for his efforts to get 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repealed

(Newser) - Democrats' love-hate relationship with Joe Lieberman is definitely on the warm and fuzzy side today after his legislative maneuvering to get Don't Ask, Don't Tell repealed. Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-independent who campaigned for John McCain, was all thumbs-ups and smiles after his role in helping secure the necessary Republican votes. “...

New Low: Congress' Approval Rating Hits 13%

Only 13% approve of the job it's doing

(Newser) - Virtually no one is pleased with the current Congress. In a new Gallup poll, just 13% said they approve of the job Congress is doing, compared to 83% who said they disapprove. That’s an all-time nadir, according to Politico ; previously, the lowest level was 14% in July 2008. Among...

A Wave of Democratic State Lawmakers Defecting to GOP

At least 13 have jumped ship so far, and there could be more

(Newser) - Democratic losses didn’t stop on Election Day: Since Nov. 2, at least 13 state lawmakers have switched over to the Republican party, the AP reports. Many of the defections took place in the South, where dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party is high. In some states, like Alabama and Louisiana,...

Elections Show Urban Coasts & Mid-America Divided
 Political Divide Gets Wider 
analysis

Political Divide Gets Wider

Midterm Republican sweep wasn't consistent across US

(Newser) - Unlike the midterm election victory in 1994 when Republican gains were consistent across the US, the 2010 GOP sweep shows a widening of the gulf between large urban areas on the coasts and the less populated areas in the middle of the country. Analysis in the Washington Post finds GOP...

Hoyer, Clyburn Jockey to Be Pelosi's Right Hand

Deal will probably preempt secret ballot

(Newser) - The sound and fury of the midterm elections may be over, but the end of electoral voting brings about a round of behind-the-scenes jockeying for power. Reps. James Clyburn and Steny Hoyer are both plausible candidates for leading the Democratic minority in the house, but given that Nancy Pelosi will...

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