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December 15, 2009

Lieberman Sets Off a Scramble

Senate Democratic leaders battled on multiple fronts Monday to try to rescue their faltering health care reform plan, as a rebellion by Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) over a proposed Medicare expansion threatened to create a domino effect among centrists and forced leaders to explore new ways to get a bill passed by Christmas.

Road Map: Wednesday House Departure Increasingly Unlikely

House Democrats are grumpy. Not only are Members unlikely to leave town by Wednesday, but their No. 1 domestic priority, health care reform, is teetering on the edge across the Dome.

Democrats Expect More Departures

Rep. Bart Gordon (Tenn.) on Monday became the fourth House Democrat from a competitive district to announce a retirement in as many weeks, further energizing Republicans and putting Democrats on high alert, with several party strategists conceding that more departures are inevitable.

K Streeters Bemoan Grueling Schedule

Typically, this time of year, a long day at the office for most K Streeters would consist of hopping from a holiday fete to a fundraiser to a client soiree. But the city’s influence-peddlers have had little time to enjoy wassail as health care inches closer to the finish line and Members try to wrap up other legislative priorities before year’s end.

Ethics Panel Reviews Bar Fight

A barroom brawl that landed an aide to Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.) in the D.C. Superior Court in October also prompted a review by the House ethics committee last week.

Heard on the Hill: Arrested Development

HOH has never been arrested, but we’re guessing that most people who wind up in handcuffs — especially Members of Congress — don’t particularly care to return to the scene of their ordeal.

GOP Woos Health Bill Moderates

Convinced for the first time that they can bring down Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) health care reform package, Republicans are trying to get votes on more amendments as part of a strategy to divide the Democratic Conference and turn a few wayward moderates against the bill.

Obama's Health Pitch Comes Backstage

President Barack Obama plans an intense but largely behind-the-scenes effort on health care reform legislation this week as the White House scrambles to help Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) push the bill toward passage.

K Street Files: Latest Dish

The National Restaurant Association has put a new top lobbyist on its menu: Scott DeFife, a former aide to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), is joining the group in January as executive vice president of policy and government affairs.

2009: A Busy Year in Congressional Ethics Comes to a Close

In January 2007, when this column first appeared in Roll Call, the subject of Congressional ethics had never been hotter. It was one of the main issues Democrats had used to sweep into power, gaining 31 seats in the House and six in the Senate. Exit polls in those elections suggested that “corruption” was more important to voters than terrorism, the economy or even Iraq.

Jingle Bells Mean We Should Put the Budget Year in Perspective

This is the time of year when you can’t listen to the radio or go into a shopping mall without hearing Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” and Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.” That means it’s time to take a look back at what’s happened on the federal budget over the past almost 12 months and think about what’s ahead for the new year that’s only a few weeks away.

Find Diversity in the Immigration Reform Debate

For many Americans, the term “immigration reform” evokes images of Central American and Mexican migrants crossing the rivers of the U.S.-Mexican border by day and running across the landlocked southwestern borders by night. It is true that securing the U.S.-Mexican border is a very important policy objective — and it is clear that Central Americans and Mexican-Americans make up a significant portion of the immigrant population. According to a July 2009 Pew Hispanic Center report, Mexico is by far the leading country of origin for U.S. immigrants, accounting for one-third (32 percent) of all foreign-born residents and two-thirds (66 percent) of Hispanic immigrants.

Lieberman Caucus

The latest cartoon from R.J. Matson.

Econ Misers

The latest cartoon from Mike Mikula.

What's Plan B if Biden Doesn't Run in Delaware?

In the nearly 12 months since Vice President Joseph Biden moved to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, it has been a foregone conclusion in national and Delaware political circles that his eldest son, state Attorney General Beau Biden (D), would run in the special election in November for his father’s former Senate seat.

Gordon Retirement Sparks Tennessee Scramble

Rep. Bart Gordon’s (D) surprise retirement announcement Monday set off a scramble as potential successors on both sides of the aisle in middle Tennessee’s 6th district began jockeying for position in the newest open-seat contest of the 2010 cycle.

GOP Says Aloha to 2010 Special Election

Rep. Neil Abercrombie’s (Hawaii) imminent resignation has left his otherwise-safe Democratic House seat vulnerable to a takeover in a special election in the coming months.

Kentucky: Paul Unleashes Power of Papa's Money Bomb

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) on Monday released a fundraising appeal asking his supporters to participate in an online “money bomb” fundraiser Wednesday to benefit his son’s Senate campaign in Kentucky.

Maryland: NRCC Tests 'Soft on Crime' Poke at Kratovil

The National Republican Congressional Committee on Monday accused Rep. Frank Kratovil (D), a former Queen Anne’s County state’s attorney, of being soft on crime to the point that he put residents of his Eastern Shore-based district at risk.

Pennsylvania: State Legislator Mulling Challenge to Carney

A local Republican lawmaker is considering challenging Rep. Christopher Carney (D), according to a Republican operative with knowledge of the situation.

Nation: Main Street PAC Gives to Hastert, Among Others

The Republican Main Street Partnership political action committee, which promotes political centrism in the GOP, last month donated to four House candidates running in Democratic-held districts — three of whom face serious primary opposition.

Kansas: Support for Jordan Building in 3rd District

Another potential Republican candidate has deferred to 2008 GOP nominee Nick Jordan in the open-seat race for retiring Rep. Dennis Moore’s (D) seat.

New Jersey: 3rd District GOP Hopes to Unify Against Adler

New Jersey Republican officials hope to come together to support one challenger to freshman Rep. John Adler (D) by January or February, at the latest.

California: NRSC, Fiorina Join Forces for Fundraising

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is not officially taking sides in the California Senate primary, but it has formed a joint fundraising committee with Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO, one of two candidates vying to take on Sen. Barbara Boxer (D).

Virginia: GOP to Pick Perriello Opponent in Primary

Republican officials in Virginia’s 5th district have decided to choose their 2010 nominee against Rep. Tom Perriello (D) in a primary next June — the method preferred by a state legislator that the national party is promoting in a seven-candidate race.

Campaign Reporters Nab an Inside Peek

It wasn’t always this bad. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R) relationship with the media in Alaska was, believe it or not, regarded as quite pleasant before she hit the national political scene in the summer of 2008.

Palin Has Some of Her Detractors Seeing Rouge

Americans decisively elected Barack Obama last November, but they got stuck with Sarah Palin as well. After all, how many losing vice presidential candidates and former Alaska governors get rock star treatment, multimillion-dollar book deals and spawn hundreds of column inches of both adoration and scorn long after defeat at the ballot box?

Cold War Memories Still Chill

It’s been 20 years since the once-mighty Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War came to an end. For decades, Soviet power kept millions of people oppressed, and the United States remained poised for war with its one-time ally. There seems to be no end of stories and accounts that come from that era, many of those contradictory. Alan Axelrod lived through that period and has his own take on what it was like to grow up under the threat of nuclear war. When he decided to write about the period, however, he decided to tell the story not simply as he remembers it, but as it actually happened.