Congress

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House, Senate Dems Split on 'Cadillac Tax'

As finance committee votes, caucus divided on how to fund reform

(Newser) - The Senate Finance Committee is poised to send its bill to the full legislature today, but its provision taxing "Cadillac" insurance plans is raising hackles in the House. Max Baucus and other senators say taxing high-cost plans will raise $200 billion, a quarter of the legislation's price tag, and...

GOP Trains Fire on Pelosi
 GOP Trains Fire on Pelosi 
2010 playbook
Oct 12, 2009 6:31 AM CDT

GOP Trains Fire on Pelosi

Republicans go after House speaker despite failures in '06, '08

(Newser) - Republicans angling to take back the House and Senate in 2010—or at least trim their losses from the last two elections—are making attacks on Nancy Pelosi a central feature of their campaign, and it's already getting ugly. The GOP has been releasing statements mocking "Gen. Pelosi" for...

Let McChrystal Make His Case to Congress
 Let McChrystal 
 Make His Case 
 to Congress 
peggy noonan
Oct 9, 2009 1:39 AM CDT

Let McChrystal Make His Case to Congress

National debate is needed to build consensus

(Newser) - President Obama may not want to hear from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, but Congress certainly does, writes Peggy Noonan, and he should let them. Staying on in Afghanistan and withdrawing are both unappealing options that could have dire consequences, and even though the Pentagon doesn't want to do it, the country...

Pelosi Eye Roll Hints at Dem Rift on Afghanistan

She doesn't seem to be on the same page as Reid

(Newser) - It was a little thing. After Tuesday’s powwow with the president on Afghan strategy, Harry Reid emerged from the White House with Nancy Pelosi and announced: “Everyone said that ‘whatever decision you make, we will support it,’” as the House speaker rolled her eyes. Though...

If Congress Can't Pass Health Reform, Yank Their Coverage

Pols should be punished for 'longstanding and grievous breach of responsibility: Kristof

(Newser) - Nicholas Kristof has a modest proposal for lawmakers who vote down health care reform. If universal coverage is defeated, he writes, let’s take away the insurance of 15% of Congress, at random, and cut benefits to an inadequate level for another 8%. “I wouldn’t wish the trauma...

Why the Dems Will Hold Congress in 2010
 Why the Dems Will 
 Hold Congress in 2010 
ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2009 7:12 AM CDT

Why the Dems Will Hold Congress in 2010

Incumbency, early preparation make 1994 redux unlikely

(Newser) - The last time a young Democrat became president, an angry debate over health care preceded a disastrous midterm election, costing the party control of both the House and the Senate. Yet it's too soon to make the easy comparison between 1994 and 2010, writes Wall Street Journal analyst Jerry Seib....

Rove: Health Care Bill Is Gift to GOP
Rove: Health Care Bill Is
Gift to GOP
OPINION
Oct 8, 2009 4:05 AM CDT

Rove: Health Care Bill Is Gift to GOP

Backlash against spending will be 'boon' to party in 2010

(Newser) - The GOP is winning the debate on health care and it'll win control of Congress as well if the Democrats manage to pass a health care bill, writes Karl Rove. Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus wants to "front-load" the bill with hefty tax hikes that will kick in...

CBO: Baucus Bill Would Cut Deficit by $81B

Projection is good news for Democrats

(Newser) - Good news for Democrats and Max Baucus: The Congressional Budget Office says the Senate finance panel's health care bill won't add to the deficit. In fact, the CBO says the bill would reduce it by $81 billion over 10 years. That should make it easier for Baucus to push his...

Jay Rockefeller Is the New Teddy
 Jay Rockefeller 
 Is the New Teddy 
analysis
Oct 7, 2009 1:10 PM CDT

Jay Rockefeller Is the New Teddy

Senator inherits Kennedy's cause of health care reform

(Newser) - Jay Rockefeller shares little of the temperament of the late Ted Kennedy, but what they do share is essential. “Massive wealth and a virtual lock on his Senate seat frees a man to do what he believes in,” writes Margaret Carlson. And for both men—the West Virginia...

2010 a Toss-Up as Indies Flee the Dems
 2010 a Toss-Up as 
 Indies Flee the Dems 
gallup poll
Oct 7, 2009 10:03 AM CDT

2010 a Toss-Up as Indies Flee the Dems

But trend and dismal 21% approval of Congress could spell Dem's demise

(Newser) - The sizable lead among registered voters Democrats have maintained since the 2006 midterm elections has eroded to almost nothing. In the latest Gallup poll, Dems have just a 2-point advantage over Republicans going into the 2010 midterms, 46% to 44%, well within the sampling error. That’s down from a...

Schwarzenegger Latest in GOP to Back Reform

Calls for health bill this year in opposition to congressional GOP's wish for do-over

(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger today became the highest-ranking elected Republican to back President Obama's push for health care reform. California's governor urged lawmakers "on both sides of the political aisle at the national level to move forward." He spoke after New York City's Mike Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent, also endorsed reform....

House Dems Fear Senate, WH Steamroll on Health Care

Moderates don't want to spend risky votes on legless progressive bill

(Newser) - House Democrats on both ends of the spectrum are feeling sorry for themselves as they struggle to shape a final health care reform bill. The bill is widely expected—based in no small part on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s proclamations—to include a public option, a tax on wealthy Americans,...

GOP to Steele: We Set Policy, Not You

(Newser) - Congressional GOP leaders met with RNC chairman Michael Steele late last month to assert their authority when it comes to policymaking, and while those involved said the get-together in House Minority Leader John Boehner’s office was routine, Politico's sources described it as heated. Of particular concern was Steele’s...

Republicans Can Retake House in a 2010 'Landslide'

If trends continue, Republicans could gain 40 seats

(Newser) - Fred Barnes surveys the political landscape and sees the possibility of Republicans gaining up to 40 House seats—and thus regaining control of the chamber—in the 2010 elections. "A landslide of that dimension is quite possible," he writes. Democrats have time to reverse the trend, but they're...

GOP Indulges in Health Amendment Free-for-All

(Newser) - Reasoned debate is all well and good, but the more than 300 amendments offered to the health care reform bill by finance committee Republicans are “dangerously close to a parody,” Dana Milbank writes. Or maybe they’re already there. Take Orrin Hatch’s request for “transition relief...

Congressman Defiant Over 'Die Quickly' Jab

Apologizes to the dead, not GOP, cites US health care 'holocaust'

(Newser) - The Democratic congressman who belittled Republicans for promoting a health care plan that wants the ill to "die quickly" ratcheted up his rhetoric even more today. Noting that some Republicans had demanded he apologize, Florida's Alan Grayson took to the House floor with an apology of a different sort:...

Leadership PACs Make 'Mockery' of Election Rules
Leadership PACs Make 'Mockery' of Election Rules
investigation
Sep 30, 2009 4:30 PM CDT

Leadership PACs Make 'Mockery' of Election Rules

(Newser) - Meet the new villain of campaign fundraising: the leadership PAC. These once-obscure fundraising tools used to be reserved for rising political stars. Now, 70% of lawmakers in Congress have them—and the lax scrutiny that goes along with how the money gets spent. Most of the cash is supposed to...

Congress Votes to Boost Own Budget

Capitol Hill scoffs at belt-tightening, jacks funding 5.8%

(Newser) - With local governments around the country tightening their belts, Congress is loosening theirs. The House last week approved a 5.8% bump in the legislative budget, and the Senate is poised to do so as well. That’ll bring Capitol Hill’s annual budget to $4.7 billion, Politico reports....

2010 Won't See Another Republican Revolution
2010 Won't See Another Republican Revolution
OPINION
Sep 29, 2009 9:38 AM CDT

2010 Won't See Another Republican Revolution

Parallels with 1994 are exaggerated

(Newser) - Hopeful Republicans are starting to play up the similarities between 1994 and 2010 but any talk of a second Republican Revolution is probably just wishful thinking, writes Ed Kilgore in the New Republic. The Republican capture of the House in '94 was made possible by retiring Democrats—some 22 of...

Swine Flu Highlights Debate Over Paid Sick Leave

Half of US doesn't get sick pay; businesses defend policy

(Newser) - The second coming of swine flu has reignited the debate over paid sick leave. “You have all of our top officials saying, ‘Do the responsible thing. If you're sick, stay home,’” an advocate tells CNNMoney. “And at the same time, we have a country where...

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