Stupak retires, hands GOP huge victory
The forced retirement of U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak is a huge victory for Republicans.
They have said for months that Democrats who supported needed health care reform would suffer defeats this November. Stupak, a Michigan Democrat who served nine terms, didn’t even wait for his defeat; he walked out the door.
Stupak became a symbol for the GOP of the Democrats who made deals to get the health care package approved in Congress last month. Read more.
At immigration rallies around the country, calls for an overhaul
Thousands of immigrants gathered Saturday for rallies in seven cities to press Congress and the Obama administration to go ahead this year with legislation to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants.
Organizers planned the demonstrations — on the last weekend before lawmakers return to Washington after a recess — to follow up on a big rally held March 21 in Washington. They are battling to keep an immigration overhaul on Congress’ agenda, even as the political odds appear to worsen almost daily. Read more.
Weekly remarks: GOP’s Jon Kyl warns of new taxes; Obama hails his stimulus tax cuts
Hello. I’m Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona.
The effects of the ongoing economic slump have been severe and have touched all Americans. Too many people have lost jobs; others are working reduced hours or for lower pay. The latest report shows that unemployment has stubbornly stayed at just below 10 percent. Nearly four million workers have lost their jobs since President Obama took office.
The American people have been telling Washington that promoting job growth must be the first priority. But, for more than a year, Congress and the President have focused instead on a controversial health spending bill which a majority of Americans said they didn’t want. Read more.
Generic Congressional Ballot – GOP 47 – 38
Republican candidates now hold a nine-point lead over Democrats in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 47% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate, up from 46% last week, while 38% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent, down a point from the previous survey.
Last week, just after Congress’ passage of the national health care plan, voter support for Democrats reached its highest level measured since early December 2009, while GOP support matched the highest level measured since weekly tracking began in early April 2007. Read more.
After Scandal, N.C. House 41 Race an Open Field
RALEIGH — A year ago, Ty Harrell had everything going for him. He had just won a second term representing North Carolina’s 41st House District in western Wake County. As a charismatic African-American and vice chair for two House committees, he was one of the state Democratic Party’s fastest rising stars.
But in a classic riches-to-rags political drama, it all changed. Harrell and his wife separated amid allegations that he engaged in an extra-marital affair, and the state Board of Elections launched an investigation into his campaign’s misuse of donations. The promising young politician resigned from office in September. Read more.
Gingrich: Obama Administration ‘Far and Away the Most Radical’ in American History
NEWT GINGRICH, R-GA, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The President of the United States, the most radical president in American history, has now thrown down the gauntlet to the American people. He has said, I run a machine, I own Washington, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Now, that’s where we are.
VAN SUSTEREN: Speaker Gingrich joins us live right here in Washington. Mr. Speaker, “the most radical president in American history.”
GINGRICH: I think that’s clearly true. Look at what they did with General Motors and Chrysler and taking money away from the stockholders and the bond holders and giving it to the unions. Look what they did in ramming through the trillion-dollar health bill. Look what they’re doing with a pay czar in the White House, which is an unconstitutional office that now has an individual person who decides what banks should be able to earn. Read more.
Gallup: Democrats’ Approval at Historic Low
Not only have Democrats not experienced a healthcare bounce, they’re seeing a healthcare plunge, according to Gallup.
The Democratic Party’s favorable rating has dropped to its lowest level ever: 41 percent, according to Gallup in a story first reported by the WashingtonExaminer.com
In addition to Rep. Bart Stupak, one of the key legislators who broke the tide for President Obama on healthcare passage but now is giving up his seat, other Democrats are either retiring or on the verge. Elsewhere, once strong incumbent seats are up for grabs.
As Congress returns to work after a two-week Easter break, the choice before the majority party is this, according to The Examiner: keep plunging ahead or start running for cover? Read more.
Poole’s corruption trial to start May 3
The corruption trial of Ruffin Poole, a longtime aide to former Gov. Mike Easley, will start much sooner than Poole wanted.
U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle ordered Tuesday that the trial start on May 3, rejecting arguments from Poole’s lawyer that he needed the summer to prepare.
Prosecutors initially sought a mid-May trial on more than 50 corruption counts brought against Poole, who was a counsel to the former governor in his two terms. Poole wanted a trial in August. Read more.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad Sends Letter to President Obama
April 14 (Bloomberg) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, the content of which will be made public soon, state-run Press TV reported.
Ahmadinejad, who spoke in an interview with Iran’s national television late yesterday, also said that Iran is Obama’s “only chance” of achieving a foreign policy success in the Middle East, the English-language satellite news channel said in a report.
Obama “has only one way to tell the world that he has created change, and that is Iran,” because he is unlikely to achieve anything in Israel, Iraq or Afghanistan, Ahmadinejad said, according to Press TV. Read more.
Obama dares Republicans to fight Wall St. bill
For weeks, the White House strategy on financial regulatory reform remained an open question: Would President Barack Obama water down his bill just to get something passed — the way he did on health care?
A Palinesque “Hell no!” was the answer coming from the White House on Wednesday as the president, his senior aides and his allies on Capitol Hill issued an ultimatum to Republicans fighting Democrats’ plans to overhaul financial oversight.
“For the president, you have to be willing to accept a strong bill,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, after Obama emerged from a contentious meeting with GOP congressional leaders. Read more.
Burr: Obama should copy Bush on terror
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says President Barack Obama’s administration isn’t tough enough on terrorism.
In an interview on the Bill LuMaye radio show on WPTF-AM, Burr said last week that the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing was the result of a “colossal communications failure” between federal agencies that should have prevented the attempted attack.
Obama’s administration has not handled the incident well, Burr said. Read more.
Tea partiers descend on D.C.
Thousands of tea party activists descended on Washington Thursday to air a variety of demands – from the repeal of new health care legislation to the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service and a taxation system they say punishes initiative, to a fuller embrace of Israel – even as organizers encouraged them to unite and shift their focus toward the 2010 congressional elections.
“It is great that we all come together and have these rallies,” Amy Kremer of the Tea Party Express told a crowd of several thousand protestors gathered under a warm midday sun on Freedom Plaza a few blocks from the White House.
“But the real work is done outside of a rally, and if we truly want to affect change, we are going to have to get involved in the election process in these campaigns and vote true conservatives into office,” she said, urging the ralliers to “put down the protest signs and pick up the campaign signs.” Read more.
The Greens’ Ground Zero
To accurately gauge the level of desperation in the environmental community at any given moment, simply murmur the words “Richard Pombo.” Then step back and watch the slurs roll.
Ground zero in the nation’s environmental fight has already been established in California’s 19th district, where Mr. Pombo—a Republican who narrowly lost his House seat in 2006—is again running in the Central Valley. It’s only April, but the green shock troops are again waging an all-out smear campaign to defeat him, this time with an assist from one of his Republican primary competitors. It’s a vivid example of the stakes for the green agenda in this year’s midterm elections. Read more.
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