Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. It was a real mixed bag in politics today, and none of it involved the biggest current issue: financial regulation. The Senate will not vote on amendments to the bill until Tuesday.
CRIST: It's official. Florida Governor Charlie Crist will now run for the Senate as an independent, instead of a Republican. He was due to get his clocked cleaned in the Republican primary by Marco Rubio, the Cuban-American former State House Speaker. I'm not sure Crist's decision makes the race any more winnable for Democrat Kendrick Meek. Crist has completely alienated the Republican party. At this point, I don't think many Republicans in that state will vote for Crist. It's unclear how many true independents vote in Florida. In fact, if I were Kendrick Meek, I'd worry that Crist may eat into the Democratic vote, especially among some of the older Florida voters who may not be comfortable voting for an African American Senator.
The broader significance of Crist's decision is the continued purging of moderates in the Republican party. Crist is far more of an orthodox Republican, for example, than Ben Nelson is an orthodox Democrat. He harshly criticized the health care bill, and has generally governed as a conservative. That is not enough to be in today's Republican party. Bob Bennett, a very conservative Republican Senator from Utah, looks like he will lose his primary election next month to a challenger from the right, simply because he is somewhat moderate-tempered, and because he co-sponsored a health care bill with Democratic Senator Ron Wyden. If this sort of purging brings more moderate Democrats into the fold, then I'll be thrilled. I'm more worried, however, that the Republican party, one of the two major parties in this country, will be exclusively far, far-right.
I'm changing the rating for this seat to "toss-up" until I see some additional polling. If I were a betting man, I'd bet on Marco Rubio to win the race.
OIL: I don't have much to say about the oil spill in the Gulf Coast, but I will echo the words of comedian Bill Maher, who said that, "Every asshole who ever chanted 'Drill baby drill' should have to report to the Gulf coast today for cleanup duty." This includes President Obama, who as recently as a month ago, said that no oil spills today are caused by offshore oil rigs. Offshore drilling isn't the most outrageous policy in the world to me, but the benefits of getting a little more fossil fuel that won't be available for 10 years doesn't outweigh the cost of massive environmental damage.
THE HOUSE: The House today considered a bill that gives Puerto Rico the ability to choose its future relationship with the United States. The bill would mandate an election, where the Puerto Rican people could vote up or down on whether to maintain their current arrangement with our country. If the vote succeeded, another such vote would occur in 8 years. If the vote failed, the Puerto Rican people would be able to vote to sever ties with the U.S., or apply for statehood. The bill passed, though as of press time we dont' have the final tally. The House also took up a series of amendments to the bill.
The next votes in both the House and Senate will occur on Tuesday. This is our last entry for the week. Leave us some comments, and we'll see you on Monday!
Showing posts with label Crist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crist. Show all posts
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Daily Strike-5/12/09-Crist-Crossed
Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. It is my preference (especially during a non-election year) to talk about what's going on NOW and not what might happen in 2010, but today I can't resist the urge.
CRIST: Today, Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced that he will run for the open Senate Seat vacated by Senator Mel Martinez. Crist would appear to be the overwhelming favorite to win this election, given his enormous name recognition and sky-high approval ratings.
I want to dissect the implications of this decision by looking at the political ripple effects. The National Republican Senatorial Committee recruited Crist hard, seeing him as their best chance of keeping the Florida Senate seat. The Washington establishment, led by NRSC Chairman John Cornyn, will certainly be willing to give Crist some money. Crist, though, will face a serious challenge in winning over Florida Republicans. Former Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio, a staunch conservative, has already announced that he will challenge Crist in the primary (which is only opened to registered Republicans). This is going to be a great test for the Republican party. I'm interested to see if they'll be ok voting for the likeable, electable moderate Governor or apply a strict litmus test on Crist's support for the stimulus. Rubio already released an ad with scary music highlighting Crists' connection with Obama. Republican's stubborn insistence on only accepting candidates who agree with them on every issue could hand this seat over to the Democrats. I would enjoy nothing more than watching Republicans continue to shoot themselves in the foot by continually narrowing their party's tent.
As for that aforementioned Governor's race, the biggest Democratic prospect is state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. Sink declined to enter the Senate race earlier this year, and probably didn't want to go up against Crist in a Governor's race. Now that Crist is out of the race, Sink will almost certainly test the waters. No word on who might jump in on the Republican side. We'll keep an eye on what happens in The Sunshine State.
The President also sent a reply letter to the group of health care stakeholders he met with yesterday. Obama talked tough with these folks, saying that he expects them to follow through on their promise to propose specific cost-cutting proposals. It's almost as if the President read criticism that the meeting didn't mean anything because the stakeholders didn't pledge to do anything specific.
THE SENATE: The Senate resumed consideration of the Credit Card Bill of Rights today, after Senators Shelby and Dodd agreed on a compromise last night. The Senate took one record vote on a Coburn (R-OK) amendment that would allow guns in public parks. How this relates to credit cards, I have no idea. Don't you just love the Senate's rule allowing non-germane amendments? Fortunately for Coburn, there are some Democrats who care more about their perfect NRA ratings than public safety. The amendment passed by a vote of 67-29. All no votes were from Democrats, including the newly anti-gun Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), who had received an 100% NRA rating when she was in the House. Gun-toting, spineless Democrats are Baucus (MT), Bayh (IN), Begich (AK), Bennet (CO), Byrd (WV), Casey (PA), Conrad (ND), Dorgan (ND), Feingold (WI), Hagan (NC), Kohl (WI), Landrieu (LA), Leahy (VT), Lincoln (AR), Merkley (OR), Nelson (NE), Nelson (FL), Pryor (AR), Reid (NV), Sanders (VT) (the socialist? really?), Shaheen (NH), Specter (PA), Tester (MT), Udall (CO), Warner (VA), Webb (VA) and Wyden (OR). I included this long list for dramatic effect.
Also coming to the floor will be Harold Koh, the nominee to be general counsel to the State Department. The only Republican to support him on the Foreign Relations Committee was ranking member Richard Lugar (R-IN). Koh's nomination has faced strong opposition from conservatives for a reason unknown to me. His name has also come up in conversations about potential Supreme Court nominees.
That's it for tonight. Please leave some comments!!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Daily Strike-2/22/09-Governors
Happy Sunday and welcome to the Daily Strike. Not much political news today, and I'm sure you're all watching the Oscars, so it will be a short entry tonight.
GOVERNORS: The Sunday talk shows featured a variety of GOP governors speaking about the stimulus. Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, who recently announced that he would reject stimulus money for unemployment insurance, defended his decision by arguing that it will cause future tax increases. Another southern conservative, Haley Barbour of Mississippi announced that he too would reject stimulus money. I'm sure Mr. Barbour is not on the unemployment roles.
Two other pragmatic governors, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Charlie Crist of Florida both talked today about how they have been forced to abandon their principles because they need stimulus money to get their states out of severe budget downfalls. Schwarzenegger even went as far as saying that Obama needs governors to be "team players." It seems like the battle lines have been drawn for 2012 already. Support the stimulus, and you are a principled fiscal conservative. Oppose it, and you are a Democrat-lite. I can't wait watching reasonable pragmatists like Crist being torn down by Governors Sanford of South Carolina and Jindal of Louisiana for accepting money to help laid-off, struggling constituents. I think the Republican primary electorate will largely be opposed to the stimulus (assuming nothing changes between now and two years from now), and thus the reasonable pragmatists will have little chance of winning the nomination. Probably good news for Obama.
STIMULUS WATCHDOG: President Obama announced a task force to oversee stimulus spending, which will be led by Earl Devaney, a former white-collar crime investigator. This week, Obama seems to be showcasing fiscal responsibility, which makes sense to appease fearful voters who are worried about huge budget deficits after the bank bailout and stimulus package. The fiscal responsibility theme should be prevalent in the address to Congress Tuesday night, as well as Thursday when Obama releases his budget.
That's it for tonight, a LOT more coming tomorrow morning in the Weekly Strike, when we preview a very busy week in politics. Enjoy the Oscars.
GOVERNORS: The Sunday talk shows featured a variety of GOP governors speaking about the stimulus. Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, who recently announced that he would reject stimulus money for unemployment insurance, defended his decision by arguing that it will cause future tax increases. Another southern conservative, Haley Barbour of Mississippi announced that he too would reject stimulus money. I'm sure Mr. Barbour is not on the unemployment roles.
Two other pragmatic governors, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Charlie Crist of Florida both talked today about how they have been forced to abandon their principles because they need stimulus money to get their states out of severe budget downfalls. Schwarzenegger even went as far as saying that Obama needs governors to be "team players." It seems like the battle lines have been drawn for 2012 already. Support the stimulus, and you are a principled fiscal conservative. Oppose it, and you are a Democrat-lite. I can't wait watching reasonable pragmatists like Crist being torn down by Governors Sanford of South Carolina and Jindal of Louisiana for accepting money to help laid-off, struggling constituents. I think the Republican primary electorate will largely be opposed to the stimulus (assuming nothing changes between now and two years from now), and thus the reasonable pragmatists will have little chance of winning the nomination. Probably good news for Obama.
STIMULUS WATCHDOG: President Obama announced a task force to oversee stimulus spending, which will be led by Earl Devaney, a former white-collar crime investigator. This week, Obama seems to be showcasing fiscal responsibility, which makes sense to appease fearful voters who are worried about huge budget deficits after the bank bailout and stimulus package. The fiscal responsibility theme should be prevalent in the address to Congress Tuesday night, as well as Thursday when Obama releases his budget.
That's it for tonight, a LOT more coming tomorrow morning in the Weekly Strike, when we preview a very busy week in politics. Enjoy the Oscars.
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Daily Strike-2/9/09-The Vote and the Press Conference
Selling the stimulus was the name of the game today, in a variety of venues, and we have you covered. Welcome to the Daily Strike.
SENATE VOTE: First things first, how is this bill doing as it meanders through Congress? Today, the Senate voted to cut off debate on the stimulus bill by a vote of 61-36 (if it weren't for Senator John Cornyn's (R-TX) absurd decision to skip the vote to attend a New York fundraiser, I would have predicted it exactly right!) As expected, three Republicans voted for the bill, Senators Snowe and Collins of Maine, and Senator Specter of Pennsylvania. It's not easy being a dissenting Republican when you have the talk radio echo chamber on your case. Senator Specter even had to tell conservative radio host Laura Ingraham to cool it today when she was pressing him on his vote.
Next up, the Senate votes on whether to waive the budget rules on the Collins-Nelson amendment (which is now the underlying bill). This vote, as I mentioned in the last post, will require a 60 vote super majority. I expect the result to be exactly the same as today's, except that maybe cowboy Cornyn will show up this time. We'll keep tabs on when the House-Senate conference convenes, and will provide coverage of what happens in these meetings (from the little of these meetings that become publicly available).
OBAMA BACK ON THE TRAIL: Obama had two very important public appearances today. The first was a town hall meeting in Elkhart, IN. The meeting was not censored like the Bush town-halls, and many of the questions were quite pointed. Obama was introduced by a man who had been laid off by the RV plant he used to work out. He talked about how the stimulus bill will help him survive by enabling him to continue to collect unemployment insurance while he looks for a new job. This was very powerful, and I think representative of the strategy Obama frankly should have applied more forcefully: make the stimulus real in terms of how it affects average people's lives. The questions varied from those discussing alternative energy, one talking about whether money will flow to states or localities, and the obligatory cute kid who asked "what will you do for our schools?" The two most interesting questions:
1. This one guy got off to a great start, talking about how the previous 8 years have been misguided by a trickle-down economic philosophy, but then ended up with a disappointing finish of "why don't you just give us all a check?"
2. This one brave woman identified herself as someone who thinks Obama should have a beer with Sean Hannity and asked about the hypocrisy of the tax issues surrounding his nominees. Obama handled the question well by joking about Hannity's dislike of him, and then called the women's questions about his nominees "legitimate."
The main event was tonight's press conference in the East Room of the White House. The President took a very serious and somber tone in discussing, in very real terms, the impact of the economic crisis. In his opening remarks, he gave a couple of good anecdotes indicating how bad the economy really is. He talked about how a food bank in Indiana is advertising on TV, even though it is running out of food. This was very effective. He also gave a rather nuanced explanation of how government spending can break the economy out of a downward spiral in which low consumer demand causes businesses to fail, the businesses then cut jobs, which leads to lower demand etc etc. In a remark that would make Reagan jump in his grave, Obama essentially said that at this moment, government is the only entity that can save the economy from catastrophe.
This sort of explanation, I think, is necessary, since a couple of recent polls have shown that the general public still regards tax decreases as a better stimulus. (Side note: He should have tested the explanation out on new RNC chairman Michale Steele, who ridiculously said that government has never created a single job..this is from a guy who was on government payroll for four years). I think Obama could have been more effective in making the case, however. I know this is getting nit-picky, but he loses touch a bit when his talk becomes more wonky and therefore more difficult to relate to.
He answered the questions quite well, I thought. There were a couple about the lack of bipartisanship, to which Obama calmly reminded the assembled reporters of his numerous outreach efforts to Republican members of the House and the Senate, and implicitly chastised the right-wing ideology that these people espouse. A few questions related to foreign policy, which I think was strange, considering that the press conference was called for the express purpose of discussing the stimulus. Of course, someone had to ask about A-Rod, wasting the country's time. I think the press conference was an overall success, because he effectively explained why the economy needs immediate action, and why doing nothing would be so disastrous. Look for excessive Republican criticism in the coming days of Obama breaking his promise of bipartisanship, but it was only a matter of time before Obama fought back against his Republican critic.
CONGRESS TOMORROW: The House is in a holding pattern as it waits to get into conference on the stimulus bill. It held no votes today. Tomorrow, the House will take up some non-controversial bills under suspension of the rules, and then will vote on a procedural measure related to the stimulus called a "motion to construct conferees." Usually, these are votes that bind the conferees to insist on certain parts of the House-passed package and not adopt certain components of the Senate package. I'm not sure what the motion will consist of in tomorrow's case. I don't even know who has offered the motion, but I will, of course, keep you posted.
Then, the House will vote on what's called a "Privileged Resolution." These resolutions take precedence over all House business and deal with matters that affect the safety and integrity of the House. This resolution was introduced by Rep. John Carter of Texas (a Republican), and it states that New York Rep. Charlie Rangel, the chairman of the Ways and Means committee, has dishonored the House and should give up his chairmanship. This all stems from allegations that Rep. Rangel owes a lot of money in taxes on unreported income on various shady deals. I'm not going to defend Rangel, because the evidence against him is pretty bad, but it seems like a waste of time to being this resolution up for a vote. A privileged resolution is subject to one hour of debate unless someone offers a motion to table (kill) it. A Democrat has offered that motion, so the House will vote on whether to set aside this resolution and focus on something more pressing, like say, the economy.
The Senate, after finishing up their version of the stimulus bill, take up some nominations in the afternoon, including controversial Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, who is a former lobbyist. He'll probably pass with 60-70 votes or so. There could be some other votes. We'll let you know.
OBAMA TOMORROW: The President heads to Fort Myers, Florida tomorrow to hold another town hall meeting about the stimulus. Joining Obama will be Republican Governor Charlie Crist, who has broken with his party to support the recovery package. I think that Governor Crist is a rising star within the party. He certainly has conservative views, but he doesn't let his ideology get in the way of desperately needed help for his constituents. He exhibited this same decency last year when he extended voting hours in some of Florida's poorest precincts, even though he knew it would cost his party votes. Of course, this sensitivity to people over the ideological dogma of his party just might ruin his chances at the GOP nomination in 2012. If he somehow did get the nomination, he would be a very formidable candidate.
Over the next day or so, we'll start to see what effect this public campaign will have on the views of the electorate, and if it helps Obama:
1. Win some battles in the House-Senate conference
2. Get the final bill by the weekend.
It will be an exciting week, so stay here with The Daily Strike for all of your political needs.
SENATE VOTE: First things first, how is this bill doing as it meanders through Congress? Today, the Senate voted to cut off debate on the stimulus bill by a vote of 61-36 (if it weren't for Senator John Cornyn's (R-TX) absurd decision to skip the vote to attend a New York fundraiser, I would have predicted it exactly right!) As expected, three Republicans voted for the bill, Senators Snowe and Collins of Maine, and Senator Specter of Pennsylvania. It's not easy being a dissenting Republican when you have the talk radio echo chamber on your case. Senator Specter even had to tell conservative radio host Laura Ingraham to cool it today when she was pressing him on his vote.
Next up, the Senate votes on whether to waive the budget rules on the Collins-Nelson amendment (which is now the underlying bill). This vote, as I mentioned in the last post, will require a 60 vote super majority. I expect the result to be exactly the same as today's, except that maybe cowboy Cornyn will show up this time. We'll keep tabs on when the House-Senate conference convenes, and will provide coverage of what happens in these meetings (from the little of these meetings that become publicly available).
OBAMA BACK ON THE TRAIL: Obama had two very important public appearances today. The first was a town hall meeting in Elkhart, IN. The meeting was not censored like the Bush town-halls, and many of the questions were quite pointed. Obama was introduced by a man who had been laid off by the RV plant he used to work out. He talked about how the stimulus bill will help him survive by enabling him to continue to collect unemployment insurance while he looks for a new job. This was very powerful, and I think representative of the strategy Obama frankly should have applied more forcefully: make the stimulus real in terms of how it affects average people's lives. The questions varied from those discussing alternative energy, one talking about whether money will flow to states or localities, and the obligatory cute kid who asked "what will you do for our schools?" The two most interesting questions:
1. This one guy got off to a great start, talking about how the previous 8 years have been misguided by a trickle-down economic philosophy, but then ended up with a disappointing finish of "why don't you just give us all a check?"
2. This one brave woman identified herself as someone who thinks Obama should have a beer with Sean Hannity and asked about the hypocrisy of the tax issues surrounding his nominees. Obama handled the question well by joking about Hannity's dislike of him, and then called the women's questions about his nominees "legitimate."
The main event was tonight's press conference in the East Room of the White House. The President took a very serious and somber tone in discussing, in very real terms, the impact of the economic crisis. In his opening remarks, he gave a couple of good anecdotes indicating how bad the economy really is. He talked about how a food bank in Indiana is advertising on TV, even though it is running out of food. This was very effective. He also gave a rather nuanced explanation of how government spending can break the economy out of a downward spiral in which low consumer demand causes businesses to fail, the businesses then cut jobs, which leads to lower demand etc etc. In a remark that would make Reagan jump in his grave, Obama essentially said that at this moment, government is the only entity that can save the economy from catastrophe.
This sort of explanation, I think, is necessary, since a couple of recent polls have shown that the general public still regards tax decreases as a better stimulus. (Side note: He should have tested the explanation out on new RNC chairman Michale Steele, who ridiculously said that government has never created a single job..this is from a guy who was on government payroll for four years). I think Obama could have been more effective in making the case, however. I know this is getting nit-picky, but he loses touch a bit when his talk becomes more wonky and therefore more difficult to relate to.
He answered the questions quite well, I thought. There were a couple about the lack of bipartisanship, to which Obama calmly reminded the assembled reporters of his numerous outreach efforts to Republican members of the House and the Senate, and implicitly chastised the right-wing ideology that these people espouse. A few questions related to foreign policy, which I think was strange, considering that the press conference was called for the express purpose of discussing the stimulus. Of course, someone had to ask about A-Rod, wasting the country's time. I think the press conference was an overall success, because he effectively explained why the economy needs immediate action, and why doing nothing would be so disastrous. Look for excessive Republican criticism in the coming days of Obama breaking his promise of bipartisanship, but it was only a matter of time before Obama fought back against his Republican critic.
CONGRESS TOMORROW: The House is in a holding pattern as it waits to get into conference on the stimulus bill. It held no votes today. Tomorrow, the House will take up some non-controversial bills under suspension of the rules, and then will vote on a procedural measure related to the stimulus called a "motion to construct conferees." Usually, these are votes that bind the conferees to insist on certain parts of the House-passed package and not adopt certain components of the Senate package. I'm not sure what the motion will consist of in tomorrow's case. I don't even know who has offered the motion, but I will, of course, keep you posted.
Then, the House will vote on what's called a "Privileged Resolution." These resolutions take precedence over all House business and deal with matters that affect the safety and integrity of the House. This resolution was introduced by Rep. John Carter of Texas (a Republican), and it states that New York Rep. Charlie Rangel, the chairman of the Ways and Means committee, has dishonored the House and should give up his chairmanship. This all stems from allegations that Rep. Rangel owes a lot of money in taxes on unreported income on various shady deals. I'm not going to defend Rangel, because the evidence against him is pretty bad, but it seems like a waste of time to being this resolution up for a vote. A privileged resolution is subject to one hour of debate unless someone offers a motion to table (kill) it. A Democrat has offered that motion, so the House will vote on whether to set aside this resolution and focus on something more pressing, like say, the economy.
The Senate, after finishing up their version of the stimulus bill, take up some nominations in the afternoon, including controversial Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, who is a former lobbyist. He'll probably pass with 60-70 votes or so. There could be some other votes. We'll let you know.
OBAMA TOMORROW: The President heads to Fort Myers, Florida tomorrow to hold another town hall meeting about the stimulus. Joining Obama will be Republican Governor Charlie Crist, who has broken with his party to support the recovery package. I think that Governor Crist is a rising star within the party. He certainly has conservative views, but he doesn't let his ideology get in the way of desperately needed help for his constituents. He exhibited this same decency last year when he extended voting hours in some of Florida's poorest precincts, even though he knew it would cost his party votes. Of course, this sensitivity to people over the ideological dogma of his party just might ruin his chances at the GOP nomination in 2012. If he somehow did get the nomination, he would be a very formidable candidate.
Over the next day or so, we'll start to see what effect this public campaign will have on the views of the electorate, and if it helps Obama:
1. Win some battles in the House-Senate conference
2. Get the final bill by the weekend.
It will be an exciting week, so stay here with The Daily Strike for all of your political needs.
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