The DCCC has posted boffo fundraising figures in recent months, often outraising their partisan counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee. A DCCC spokesman said this was their “best April in history.” By comparison, the DCCC raised just under $3 million in April of 2006, a year in which they took control of the House, according…
Tag: congress
Debt Ceiling Debate Is Revived In Washington[audio]
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned on Tuesday that the U.S. will likely hit its debt limit sometime before the end of the year. At the same event in Washington, House Speaker John Boehner promised that any increase in the nation’s debt ceiling would have to be accompanied by corresponding budget reductions. SOURCE: Debt Ceiling Debate…
President’s Weekly Address: Extending the Payroll Tax Cut for the Middle Class
WEEKLY ADDRESS: Extending the Payroll Tax Cut for the Middle Class In this week’s address, President Obama urged Congress to quickly pass the payroll tax cut extension to prevent a tax hike on 160 million hardworking Americans who are still recovering from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. This is not the time…
GOP played Keystone card, lost
If you missed the press conference after the State Department announcement that the Keystone XL pipeline had been canceled, you missed a heck of a show. House Speaker John Boehner was mad. And the Republican lawmakers behind him were furious. Over and over, Boehner and the gang asked angrily “What happened?” knowing full well that…
Obama Seeks Power To Merge Agencies
A senior administration official says President Barack Obama will ask Congress for more power to streamline the government by merging agencies. And if Obama gets the fast-track power he wants, his first proposal would be to combine trade and commerce operations into one. The official says Obama is seeking what the White House is calling…
As Obama Vents, His Poll Numbers Get A Bump
That rise coincides with the presidents monthlong nationwide campaign pressing Congress to pass his stalled jobs bill. His latest stop in that effort was in Washington on Wednesday, and it came on the eve of a vote in which Senate Republicans are expected to block a key part of his jobs bill. As…
Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Support First Piece Of Obama Jobs Plan To Prevent Teacher, Firefighter Layoffs
Last week, two Senate Democrats joined Senate Republicans to filubuster President Obama’s jobs plan, even though analysts have found that it could add 1.9 million jobs next year. Now, Democratic lawmakers have decided to introduce Obama’s plan piece-by-piece, beginning with Obama’s $35 billion aid package “to help state and local governments provide funding…
Harry Reid Busts Up Senate Precedent
McConnell moved to suspend the rules and shift debate over to the American Jobs Act. Reid argued that doing so amounted to another filibuster, because it required 60 votes to move back to the original bill, and so therefore was out of order. Sen. Mark Begich D-Alaska, who happened to be the presiding…
President Obama’s Press Conference – October 6, 2011
This is not a game; this is not the time for the usual political gridlock. The problems Europe is having today could have a very real effect on our economy at a time when it’s already fragile. But this jobs bill can help guard against another downturn if the situation in Europe gets any worse….
Sen. Rand Paul Blocks $36 Million For Disabled And Elderly Refugees, Including Those Who Aided American Troops
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the bill’s sponsor, pointed out the life-threatening consequences of Paul’s actions. “The bill ensures that refugees will not lose critical life-sustaining benefits that are their only safety net protecting them from homelessness, illness and other effects of extreme poverty,” he said, noting that “some of the disabled refugees this bill helps…
Obama signs temporary spending bill
President Barack Obama signed legislation into law early Wednesday that will keep the federal government funded through November 18, the White House said. The measure, called the “Continuing Resolution Act, 2012,” ends the latest threat of a government shutdown. The new legislation is part of a deal to extend an additional $2.65 billion in…
Obama Jobs Bill: President Challenges Republicans On $447 Billion Plan
On the Texas leg of his “pass this bill” tour, Obama chided Eric Cantor, Republican leader in the House of Representatives, for saying he would not allow a vote on the measure. The White House said the plan could save or create about 400,000 education jobs, including 39,500 in Texas. “I’d like Mr….
Majority Leader Cantor Says Obama Jobs Plan Won’t Receive A Vote On The House Floor
Several news outlets are reporting that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said that the GOP will not bring President Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan to a vote on the House floor. The administration has been asking for a vote on the bill this month. Last week, economists surveyed by Bloomberg News said that the…
Debt Committees Fail-Safe Might Already Be Undone
Kyl now sits on the supercommittee, and his fellow Arizona Republican, Sen. John McCain, plans to block any automatic defense cuts resulting from a failure to agree on a plan.”Its all hypothetical, but if a trigger were in effect, you would see an immediate action on the floor of both houses by those…
Regulatory uncertainty: A phony explanation for our jobs problem
An examination of current economic trends, and especially what employers are doing in terms of hiring and investment, debunks this story about regulatory uncertainty as the cause of our dismal job growth. An examination of what employers and their economists are saying again and again in private surveys (cited later in this paper) makes it…
A Potential Superhero For The Supercommittee
At one point, Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl suggested that the government might raise money by tackling Medicare fraud or by selling public lands. “I’m not against our working with you on any issue that you want us to work with you on,” Elmendorf said. “But there’s no evidence that suggests that this…
Wonkbook: The ‘supercommittee’ is not really super
So pity the poor members of the supercommittee, who are being asked to be all things to all people, and who are inevitably going to fail. Some of them, in fact, are already trying to prepare the rest of Washington to be disappointed. In today’s edition of The Hill, Alexander Bolton reports that…