The Daily Strike-4/28/09-Specter Bolts

Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. Huge news today in the world of politics: Arlen Specter, a 28 year Senate Republican from Pennsylvania, has switched parties. Let's give you the rundown.

REPUBLICAN BETRAYAL: In a crushing blow to the Republican party, Arlen Specter has decided to switch political parties and run for reelection in 2010 as a Democrat. The first question we must ask is why he did it. There is one reason and one reason only: reelection. He was being challenged in the Republican primary by arch-conservative Pat Toomey, who he barely edged in 2004. Toomey was leading by 20 points in a poll released last week. Specter had raised the ire of state Republicans for voting in favor of the economic stimulus. He was pretty much toast in the primary. According to Pennsylvania law, if you lose the primary, you're done. No Lieberman-ing, in other words. Now that he's running as a Democrat, he probably has the primary field all to himself. With the votes of independents and Democrats, he would crush Toomey in a general election. Specter might say that he now agrees more with the Democratic party than the Republican party, and that he doesn't want to be beholden to a party. I don't buy it. Why would he have gone on a diatribe against Eric Holder if he knew he was leaning towards joining the Democratic party? Why would he have abandoned the Employee Free Choice Act? Having said that, Democrats should embrace him with open arms, as they have. President Obama was very welcoming. He told Specter that he's happy to have him on the team. Democratic Senators went over the top in lauding their new caucus-mate.

The next question is what does this all mean. Most analysis of this in the media highlights that if Al Franken is seated, Democrats will have a filibuster-proof majority. I think that's a bit misleading. Specter may not be the most reliable Democratic vote on a whole host of issues. However, as Ezra Klein (I hope you're reading this Ezra! I sent you a link!) wisely points out, Specter now has an incentive to see the Democratic party succeed. As a member of the Republican minority, the Democrats' failure was his gain. Now that he's in the majority, his electoral success depends partially on how much of Obama's agenda is signed into law. That should encourage him to vote more along party lines. He would especially be motivated to turn leftward if he got a good primary challenge, which the Big Picture will talk about later in this post.

The final question is what this means for the Republican party. This is pretty devastating for them. I think they still haven't learned the lessons of their crushing losses in 2006 and 2008. The party has applied such a strict litmus test on their candidate's because they're so rigid in their ideology. The problem is, most Americans don't agree with their ideology. As a result, they are driving the moderates out of their party. Quite frankly, Specter was well aware of these dynamics, and he realized that it would be much more politically beneficial to him to associate with a big-tent, reasonable Democratic Party than a far-right bizzarro Republican party.

What will be interesting to see in the next few days is how quickly Specter tries to earn good favor with his new political party. He can start by voting for the conference report on the Democratic budget resolution. He says he's currently undecided on the matter.

MEANWHILE: The Specter news swamped the other important events going on at the Capitol. The Senate today passed a bill to make it easier to hold mortgage companies reliable for fraudulent behavior. This bill had been debated for over a week. The final vote was an overwhelming 92-4. The no votes came from usual suspects Republicans Coburn (OK), DeMint (SC), Inhofe (OK) and Kyl (AZ). This vote will probably be one of the last where we see this on the Senate website:

Pennsylvania:
Casey (D-PA), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea (bolding is mine).

The Senate also voted today (finally) to confirm HHS nominee Kathleen Sebelius. Her nomination had been stalled due to Republican objections to her positions on abortion. The final vote was 65-31. All Republicans voted no except for Bond (MO), Brownback (KS), Collins (ME), Gregg (NH-one small ounce of loyalty to the man he almost called boss), Lugar (IN), Roberts (KS) and Snowe (ME). All Democrats voted yes, including the newest one, Arlen Specter. Her confirmation at long last ends President Obama's arduous cabinet search. She will be sworn in later this week.

The House of Representatives voted on same remaining suspension bills this morning. The House then voted this afternoon on a "same day rule," that will allow the conference report on the budget resolution to be voted on tomorrow morning. The important procedural vote passed 233-191. 17 Democrats voted no (pretty much your standard Blue Dog list). The only "yes" vote from the GOP came surprisingly from Maryland's Roscoe Bartlett. I wonder if the old man pressed the wrong button or something.

The vote on the rule providing consideration of the conference report 234-185, with 11 Democrats joining all Republicans in dissent. The rule allows for one hour of debate prior to a final vote.

We will have full results of this important vote in tomorrow's entry. I estimate that it will pass with around 230 votes, with all Republicans joining about 20 Democrats in opposition. The Senate will presumably vote on the conference report at some point tomorrow as well, to give the President a big victory on his 100th day in office.

That's it for us today. This Specter thing prevented me from talking about Obama's trip to the FBI and his Rose Garden celebration honoring our nation's best teachers. I think you'll survive, especially with this "Big Picture Corner" on the Specter news.

It is CRITICAL that, after a couple month honeymoon, a serious Democratannounces a primary challenge to Specter. There shouldn't be any personalattacks that will piss him off, but just a "we need a REAL Democrat" challenge.Either it unseats Specter, or it does the very important work of holding his feet to the fire, make him vote like a Democrat to appeal to the Democratic primary electorate. That is of the utmost importance.

One odd element of this that I can see becoming "important" down the road is that Specter was one of the very few Republicans to occasionally vote with Obama, and therefore by the standard of the Looks, show that Obama's bipartisan. So ironically this will lead to less Republicans voting with Obama, therefore providing "evidence" for the Jay Costs and Michael Barones to say that Obama is so "polarizing" and not living up to his promise.

The Daily Strike-4/27/09-Science

Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. Let's run down the day in Washington. As always, please leave us some comments! And make sure you caught this morning's Weekly Strike!

THE WHITE HOUSE: President Obama gave a speech today at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC. His speech highlighted the administration's commitment to "sound science." He mentioned his stem-cell research decision, and his proposed legislation to combat global climate change. He also used the event to talk about the swine flu outbreak, telling attendees that the disease is cause for concern, but not cause for alarm. The President must be worried about not only the 20 or so cases of mild swine flu in the US, but his own health after visiting Mexico City two weeks ago. There were even rumors that a man who sat next to the President during a meeting passed away because of the virus. This turned out not to be true. The White House insists that the President is fine.

During the speech, Obama lost his place on the teleprompter, causing an awkward delay. Republicans have tried to use Obama's teleprompter dependency as some sort of criticism (?), so they must be having a field day over at the Drudge Report. Seriously, this is the best they've got.

The President had only one additional public event, during which he recognized the UCONN Huskies women's basketball team's NCAA championship. He mentioned his appreciation of women's sports, and the inspiration female athletes have had on his daughters.

The White House was also forced to apologize today for a seriously botched photo-shoot. Apparently, the FAA wanted to take pictures of Air Force One above New York City. Well, New York residents didn't get the message, and they understandably were uneasy with a plane flying 1000 above downtown Manhattan. Hundreds of New Yorkers called 911 and voluntarily evacuated their buildings. Someone really screwed up on that one.

THE SENATE: The Senate voted to cut off debate on the mortgage fraud bill, setting up a final vote tomorrow. The bill increases protection against mortgage fraud. The cloture vote passed 84-4, with only Republicans DeMint (SC), Coburn (OK), Kyl (AZ) and Inhofe (OK) objecting. The bill is the first of several financial regulation measures to come up in both chambers over the next month. Perhaps Congress is implementing the first of the five pillars (financial regulation) that Obama talked about in his economic speech a couple of weeks ago at Georgetown. Hopefully the other pillars (health care, energy, education and deficit reduction) will be addressed soon as well.

Besides a final vote on this bill, the Senate tomorrow will begin debate on the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. I'm not exactly sure when the vote on her nomination will occur, but it will be subject to a 60 vote threshold. As I mentioned this morning, her nomination is more urgent now that the Department of Health and Human Services is dealing with a possible pandemic.

The House voted today on a few suspension bills today. They'll do the same tomorrow, with serious legislative business on hold probably until Wednesday. I talked about their busy schedule in this morning's Weekly Strike.

That's it for today, see you tomorrow!

The Weekly Strike-4/27-5/3

Good Monday morning and welcome to the Weekly Strike, where we preview the upcoming week in Washington. A very busy week on Capitol Hill especially, so let's get to it.

THE HOUSE: The House of Representatives has one of its busiest weeks of the year. Today and tomorrow, the House will vote on some suspension bills. Starting Tuesday, and continuing through Thursday, the House will consider three important measures.

First, the House will take up the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act." This bill passed the House last Congress, but died under Republican filibuster in the Senate. The bill most notably expands the definition of hate crimes to those motivated by the victim's sexual orientation. The measure also expands enforcement mechanisms and funding to prevent hate crimes. The bill explicitly states that nothing in this measure will be used to prohibit constitutionally-protected free speech. I expect House Republicans to have a gay-bashing field day. Their usual objections to measures like this is that they pose restrictions on the free exercise of religious institutions to discriminate as they choose. I don't really see how that has to relate to hate crimes, but oh well. This could be a good chance for the right wing to score some culture war points with their base. More importantly, the House will pass a long-overdue measure acknowledging that crime committed against LGBT Americans constitutes hate and should be prosecuted as such. I expect the bill to pass with over 300 votes. Republican moderates like Rep. Castle (DE) and Ros-Lehtinen (FL) are co-sponsoring the bill.

Next, the House considers an Obama-backed Credit Card Bill of Rights. This important bill will increase consumer protection against aggressive credit card companies. Among other things, the bill amends the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit increases in annual interest rates on a current balance unless specific conditions are met. It also requires a 45 day notice of credit card rate increases. A good summary of this comprehensive bill can be found here. This bill will almost certainly pass, but not without major objection from free-market enthusiasts. I haven't yet found the talking points against this bill yet, but I expect it to be a Rick Santelli-like diatribe against "protecting the losers" and "expanding the size and scope of government." No Republicans have signed on to sponsor the bill, and I would be surprised if more than a few of them vote for it.

Finally, the House will vote on the conference report accompanying the annual budget resolution. The final version of the bill was apparently agreed upon by House-Senate negotiators on Friday, but the final meeting to hash out the details will be held today or tomorrow. The resolution sets spending targets for each area of discretionary spending, largely reflecting President Obama's budget proposal. The resolution also contains reconciliation instructions that will allow health care reform and education legislation to pass the Senate with 51 votes, instead of the usual 60 needed to cut off debate. Especially because of the reconciliation instructions, this is one of the most important votes of the year. If the budget resolution passes, it's a good bet that we'll have a comprehensive health care bill by the end of the year. I expect the final version to pass with the same margin as the original version. No Republican will vote for it (almost certainly), and 20 or so Democrats will vote against it.

THE SENATE: Not to be outdone, the deliberative chamber also has a busy week. Tonight, the Senate votes to invoke cloture on a bill to protect consumers against mortgage fraud. The bill was debated last week, and a number of amendments were adopted. I expect cloture to be invoked with about 65 votes or so. The ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, Chuck Grassley, is a cosponsor of the bill. If cloture is invoked, a final passage vote will occur at noon tomorrow. Also tomorrow, the Senate considers the nomination of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Her appointment carries more urgency due to the outbreak of the swine flu. The agency needs leadership to oversee this public health emergency. Sebelius' nomination has been held up by Republicans mostly due to her association with a Kansas abortion doctor. Per an agreement between the two leaders, her nomination will require 60 votes. I expect her to be confirmed with 65-70 votes, and take office later this week. If she is confirmed, Obama's cabinet will finally be filled.

The Senate will most likely take up the conference report on the budget resolution Wednesday or Thursday.

THE WHITE HOUSE: The President has a busy week, and he'll have to keep a close eye on what's happening with the swine flu outbreak. The President starts his week with a speech at the National Science Academy in Washington DC. He has an otherwise quiet day today, with a series of meetings and a White House event with the NCAA Women's Basketball Champion UCONN Huskies. Tomorrow, the President presents the "Teacher of the Year" award. How cool would it be to be that teacher right now?

Obama's busiest day is Wednesday, when he marks the 100th day of his Presidency. He will hold a town hall meeting in Missouri that morning to discuss the economy. He has thrived in the town hall setting both on the campaign trail and during his Presidency. He then will hold his 3rd prime time press conference at the White House on Wednesday night. I expect most of the questions will center around the President's first 100 days, but I expect a few on the torture memos controversy, the economy, health care etc. Let's hope the press corps can do a better job of asking relevant questions than they've done in the past.

That's pretty much it for this week. We will give you comprehensive coverage of events as they happen. Please leave us your comments! Our best one will be featured in Friday's Daily Strike.

The Daily Strike-4/24/09-Finishing Yesterday's Business

Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. Friday was mostly a quiet day in politics. President Obama made a speech on education reform in which he reiterated his support for ending government subsidies to student loan companies.

A lot happened in the United States Senate after press time yesterday, so we will mostly cover that today. Enjoy.

Posting will be light this weekend. None other than the Big Picture himself is visiting, and we will be doing some major sight-seeing.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT: House-Senate staffers stayed up mighty late last night, but they were able to reach an agreement on a final version of the budget resolution. Notably, the conferees have agreed to include reconciliation language in the bill, making it easier for President Obama's health care and education proposals to get through Congress. For you newbies, U=under expedited reconciliation procedures, only 51 votes are required for passage in the Senate (not the usual 60). The total budget blueprint contains about $3.5 trillion worth of spending. This is a huge victory for the Obama administration. The reconciliation language means that even if we lose 7 Senate Democrats, we will still have health care reform passed by the end of this year. Liberals around the country should rejoice! The formal House-Senate conference will come next week, with a final vote in each chamber happening either Tuesday or Wednesday. More on the final agreement when we get more details this weekend.

THE SENATE: Contrary to what I believed, the Senate did NOT vote on the remaining amendments to the mortgage fraud bill last night. Instead, they voted on various "motions to instruct conferees," non-binding "instructions" to Senators who will sit on the budget resolution conference committee. Because such motions are non-binding, they are a good opportunity for political grandstanding. We saw a great deal of the last night. In total, 7 such motions were voted on, and another 3 were approved by voice votes.

1. The first was offered by Senator Conrad (D-ND) on behalf of Senator Stabenow (D-MI). It would instruct conferees to include a deficit neutral reserve fund for clean energy programs in the final version of the bill. This is more noteworthy for what it does NOT say. In other words, it does not instruct the conferees to use reconciliation language. The motion passed 57-37, mostly along party lines, with Democrats in strong support. Crossovers: Republicans Collins (ME), Lugar (IN) and Snowe/Democrats Landrieu (LA/Oil rigs).

2. Next was an motion offered by Senator Johanns (R-NE). This one said that if conferees include the deficit neutral fund for energy programs, there must be a clause in there making it harder to raise energy taxes. It passed 66-28. All no votes were from smart Democrats who realize that preventing tax increases on energy could be a slippery slope to preventing tax increases on carbon emissions.

3. Third, we have a motion from Senator Ensign (R-NV) that instructs conferees to insist that the final legislation contain a point of order against any measure that raises taxes for couples making under $250,00o. In other words, if you WERE going to raise their taxes, you'd need 60 votes. Senators didn't want to touch this with a ten foot poll. The amendment passed by voice vote.

4. Next, we have a motion dealing with Senator Gregg's (R-NH) clever little language that the public debt level in 2019 must be lower than the total public debt accumulated between 1789 and 2009. We talked previously about the stupidity of this idea, mostly because it completely ignores that whole "inflation" thing. Luckily, his motion was defeated 40-54. The only Democrat stupid enough to join Mr. Gregg was Ben Nelson (NE). Zero Republicans voted against it.

5. Then came a motion from Senator Sessions (R-AL) that instructs conferees to include a freeze on non-defense discretionary spending. I've talked about the lunacy of this idea numerous times. Thankfully the motion was defeated 38-56. Self-appointed centrist Bayh (IN) joined Republicans in voting for it. ZERO Republicans were smart enough to realize that freezing discretionary spending when we have a huge lull in consumer demand is a horrible idea.

6. Next was a motion by Senator Cornyn (R-TX) that instructs conferees to include language that creates a point of order against tax increases for small businesses. It passed 84-9. To me, this would have to depend on their definition of "small business," which is not specified in the motion. All no votes were from Democrats, the most surprising perhaps was pro-business freshman Mark Warner (D-VA).

7. Next was a motion offered by Senator Alexander (R-TN) that instructs conferees to include language encouraging a "competitive student loan choice" for college students. This somehow passed unanimously. Doesn't it seem like it's geared towards President Obama's plan to do away with wasteful private student loan companies?

8. Senator Coburn (R-OK) instructed conferees to insist that the final legislation include a reserve fund to go through the budget "line by line" to find and eliminate wasteful, duplicative or inefficient spending. It passed by voice vote.

9. The next one totally baffles me. Offered by Senator DeMint (R-SC), it instructs conferees to include in the final legislation "include a point of order against legislation that eliminates the ability of Americans to keep their health plan and eliminates the ability of Americans to choose their doctor, as contained in section 316 of the concurrent resolution, as passed by the Senate, and insist further that an additional condition be added providing such legislation shall not decrease the number of Americans enrolled in private health insurance, while increasing the number of Americans enrolled in government-managed, rationed health care." Obviously this is a political statement disguised as a parliamentary instruction. This makes it all the more worrisome that the motion passed 79-14. All dissenting votes were from Democrats. It is DEEPLY disturbing to me that Democrats fell for this political trick and put themselves on record against decreasing the number of people enrolled in private health insurance. If Obama's plan includes a public option, it's inevitable that some people will opt for the cheaper, more effective government plan.

10. The final motion was offered by Senator Clown (R-LA) (some people pronounce it VITT-er). This motion would instruct conferees to include language that prohibits bills being considered that raise energy prices on American consumers, or raises the cost of drilling for oil and gas. It passed 63-30. The spineless, oil-loving Democrats were Baucus (MT), Bayh (IN), Begich (AK), Bennet (CO), Byrd (WV), Carper (DE), Conrad (ND), Dorgan (ND), Feingold (WI), Hagan (NC), Johnson (SD), Klobuchar (MN), Kohl (WI), Landrieu (LA), Lincoln (AR), McCaskill (MO), Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Pryor (AR), Reid (NV), Stabenow (MI), Udall (CO) and Webb (VA).

The Senate will be voting on cloture of the mortgage fraud bill on Monday. I expect that they can muster 60 votes to shut off debate. If so, all of the pending amendments will be disposed with. Democratic leaders probably got tired of dealing with endless Republican amendments. Vote on final passage of the bill, as amended, will come on Tuesday. Also Tuesday, the Senate will vote on the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Republicans have agreed to hold a vote if it is subject to a 60 vote threshold. I expect Sebelius to be confirmed with about 65 votes or so. Republicans have raised a ruckus on her nomination because of her association with an abortion doctor in Kansas.

NY20: It looks like Democrat Scott Murphy has won that House seat in upstate New York. He now leads the race by over 400 votes, with about 1,000 ballots in question. A majority of those ballots come from registered Democrats, making a victory by Republican Jim Tedisco virtually impossible. Word is he might concede in the next few days.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK: Tonight, as promised, a comment of the week. This one comes from our good friend Small Town Roots, who also wrote a GREAT post on the torture debate. Please read it below.

Small Town Roots said...
Over under on days until the
Chavez/Obama photo is used in a Republican Ad: 8.5
April
18, 2009 11:34 PM
Small
Town Roots said...
Secondly, thank you to the strike for realistically
criticizing our great president. Just because Obama represents a historic step
forward for the progressive movement can we forget to be critical and skeptical
of our leaders at times. Obama is after all a politician, whose driving motive
still comes down to re-election in many situations. Remaining optimistic about
our times while still holding Obama accountable is the advisable way
forward...

The Weekly Strike-4/20-4/26

Good Monday morning and welcome to the Weekly Strike, where we run down the upcoming week in politics. Congress is back in session this week, so there's lots to talk about. Let's get to it.

THE WHITE HOUSE: The President is back from Latin America, and people are still talking about his handshake with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. After spending time meeting some not-s0-friendly neighbor, Obama turns his focus this week back to domestic affairs. This morning, he holds the first full meeting of his cabinet. It will still be one person short, because HHS nominee Kathleen Sebelius has not yet been confirmed (more on that later). Apparently, following up on his weekly radio address, the President will ask cabinet agencies to find a combined $100 million in cuts. Of course, in the context of the federal budget, this is absolutely miniscule. The request seems to be completely symbolic. As the Big Picture wisely points out, how about scrap the symbolic act and focus on putting 24 million Americans back to work?

Later today the President goes to talk to the employees of the CIA at the Langley Center. He'll probably have to explain to them why he released the Bush-era torture memos. But they will probably receive him pretty warmly since he basically ruled out charging CIA employees for the actions ordered by the previous administration.

Tomorrow, the President is expected to sign the Kennedy/Hatch public service bill, a measure that increases public service jobs from 75,000 to 250,000. I expect a large bipartisan lovey dovey signing ceremony. He will also present the commander-in-chief trophy to the Navy Football team. On Wednesday, Obama travels to Iowa.

THE SENATE: A very busy week in the United States Senate. Tonight, Senators will vote on the nomination of three separate assistant attorney generals. I expect all of them to pass pretty easily. The final vote this evening will be a motion to cut off debate on the nomination of Christopher Hill to be ambassador to Iraq. Despite support from the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations committee, Richard Lugar, the nomination has been stalled for a few weeks. Republican Senators have had various complaints about Hill, mostly stemming from his Bush-era negotiations with North Korea. The lifelong diplomat will eventually be confirmed. Of course, a motion to cut off debate requires 60 votes. Assuming most (if not all) Democrats are aboard, add Lugar in there, and we only need to pick off one more Republican.

The Senate then moves to consideration of a bill to expand the liability of mortgage companies who engage in fraudulent behavior. This is the first of several financial regulation bills expected to be considered by the Senate in the coming weeks. The bill is supported by the ranking Republican on the Finance committee, Chuck Grassley (IA). A test vote to see whether the measure could garner the magic 60 will be held probably sometime on Tuesday.

Also Tuesday, the Senate Finance committee will vote on whether to send Kathleen Sebelius' nomination to the full Senate. I expect the vote to come largely along party lines. Sebelius' nomination has been slightly sidetracked by allegations that she accepted a lot of money from a Kansas late-term abortion doctor, and that she failed to pay enough in income taxes. Ultimately, I don't see any reason why she wouldn't get confirmed. If she is confirmed, the Obama cabinet will finally be full.

THE HOUSE: It will be a much quieter week in the House of Representatives. Tomorrow and Wednesday, the House will vote on non-controversial measures under suspension of the rules. On Thursday, the House considers a bill to expand research for national water projects. The bill would create a new interdepartmental agency that would study U.S. water use, and expected changes in supply and demand.

It's also possible that House and Senate negotiators will agree on a final version of the budget resolution. If so, both chambers would have to approve the final version.

That's it for now. Please leave some comments.

The Daily Strike-3/2/09-Health Nominees and Barking Republicans

Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. No votes in the House or Senate today, as members were digging out of a massive snow storm. Still much to talk about in the world of politics.

HEALTH NOMINEES: The President announced the nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. He also announced the nomination of Nancy-Ann DeParle to be the head of the White House Office of Health Reform.

Sebelius has significant experience in health policy. She worked as the insurance commissioner of Kansas before being elected Governor. She also tried to spearhead health reform in her state by expanding public insurance, but she was thwarted by the Republican legislature. She was successful in lowering the price of prescription drugs by allowing imports from Canada, and in expanding coverage for low-income children. She seems like a good administrator, which is important for this position.

DeParle worked as the commissioner of the Department of Human Services in Tennessee before overseeing the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Clinton administration. She seems like a bit of a policy wonk. Let's hope she has enough fight in her when the nitty gritty of a health reform plan makes its way through Congress.

KIRK: The other news of the day on the cabinet front was the revelation that U.S. Trade Representative-designate Ron Kirk (the former mayor of Dallas) had to pay some back taxes. No wonder his nomination had been held up for so long. Kirk's offense doesn't seem particularly egregious to me. Basically, he failed to report income on a $5000 speaking engagement. That doesn't raise my eyebrows the way Daschle's $200,000 limo driver did. While it's annoying to have another tax-troubled nominee, it looks like the nomination will still proceed, and it shouldn't be a major distraction.

REPUBLICAN BARKING PART I: One great thing about being a liberal these days is that we get to sit back and watch Republican infighting, which in turn, makes them less appealing to the average voter. Yesterday, Michael Steele said on D.L Hughley's CNN program that Limbaugh is an entertainer whose words might sometimes get a bit "ugly." This didn't sit too well with Rush, who admonished Steele by saying:

“So I am an entertainer and I have 20 million listeners because of my great song and dance routine,” Limbaugh said. “Michael Steele, you are head of the Republican National Committee. You are not head of the Republican party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the Republican National Committee…and when you call them asking for money, they hang up on you."

Steele, of course, cowered from the mighty Rush and was forced to apologize. He said that he didn't mean to go after Limbaugh, and that he had enormous respect for him. This routine has now happened a few times: A Republican says something somewhat bad about Limbaugh, Limbaugh attacks him on the air, and the Republican is forced to shamefully apologize. Meanwhile, all of these people are becoming far more isolated with the American people, because they are more concerned about offending Rush's far-right base of dittoheads. The Big Picture came up with the perfect parallel to this situation. It's like in the movie "There's Something About Mary," when all of these guys engage in pathetic acts to tear each other down and it only makes them look worse to Mary.

REPUBLICAN BARKING PART II: John McCain is mad. He's REALLY mad. The venerable Arizona Senator took to the Senate Floor today to rail against the pending Omnibus Apporpriations Bill that would fund the government through September. He's particularly angry that the President has agreed to sign the bill even though it is filled with 9,000 earmarks. McCain apparently read Obama's words from one of their debates last year, when the then-Senator said that he would go through the budget line-by-line and eliminate wasteful spending. McCain then came up with the brilliant, original zinger: "This is change?"

While Obama did say that about earmarks, it was clear during the campaign that "fiscal restraint" would not be something he cared too much about. It was obvious that he was more interested in jumpstarting the economy through government action. It would be like if John McCain didn't let the ban on gays in the military expire, and Obama read a quote of McCain saying that he "respects gays and lesbians." Yes, he said it, but it didn't necessesarily mean he cared about it or was going to do anything about it.

That's it for today. Stay tuned tomorrow as the Senate begins to consider amendments to the omnibus budget package. The first one will be offered by McCain, and it would replace the bill with another stopgap measure that extends funding at current levels until the end of the fiscal year. I bet it gets defeated pretty badly.

The Weekly Strike-3/2-3/7

Good Monday morning and welcome to the Weekly Strike where we run down the upcoming week in politics.

WHITE HOUSE: President Obama's week is healthcare themed. Today he introduces Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Her nomination is expected to be relatively smooth, barring any unforeseen distractions. She has had to govern as a Democrat on one of the most conservative states, so she has built a good relationship with a number of Republicans, including the state's two Republican Senators, Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts.

On Thursday, Obama holds a "Health Care Summit" at the White House. No word yet on the invitees, but I expect it to be stakeholders from across the political spectrum. Now is a good time to hold a summit on health care and show that you care what other people think, because later this year, you're gonna need as much goodwill as possible to get comprehensive health care reform enacted in Congress.

The other notable event on the President's schedule this week is a meeting tomorrow with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. This is the first meeting of the two since Obama won the Presidency. Brown will also speak to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. My guess is that Brown, who will be in a tight election next year against the Conservative party of David Cameron, would love to be seen with President Obama, given his popularity on the British Isles.

The President travels to Columbus this Friday. Don't know why, but I would guess it's about the economy.

CONGRESS: Another busy week in Congress as the House and Senate convene today. The House will hold a postponed vote on a Housing bill tomorrow. The bill would allow bankruptcy judges to renegotiate the terms of mortgages. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to postpone consideration of the bill after some of the more conservative members in her caucus thought the package went too far. I expect it to pass, with some modifications, ona largely party-line vote. The bill currently has one Republican co-sponsor, Mike Turner of Ohio.

The House then moves to consider the DC Voting Rights bill. The Senate passed its version last week. The House bill will not include some of the Senate add-ons, like the elimination of the "Fairness Doctrine" or the abolishment of the DC Gun Control laws. With a large Democratic majority, I expect the bill to pass relatively easily. The interesting thing to watch for will be the Republican motion to recommit. This parliamentary procedure is the right of the minority to try and change the bill before final passage. If the motion to recommit passes, the minority's changes are adopted immediately. My guess is that the Republicans use the motion to recommit to force members to cast a vote on gun control. In other words, the motion would require that DC gun safety laws would be abolished. Many Democrats would be tempted to vote for this, because a lot of them want to maintain their 100% rating from the NRA. Will there be enough of them voting with the Republicans to get this provision included in the bill? That remains to be seen. It also remains to be seen whether the Rules Committee will try some sort of parliamentary maneuver to keep the Republicans from being able to offer such a motion.

The Senate this week will consider an omnibus spending package that funds the federal government through September. Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has said that despite the bill's large number of earmarks, the President will sign the legislation. Senators will have the chance to offer amendments, and we'll keep you posted on which ones are adopted. Assuming the Senate amends the bill, the House will take either take up the amended version, or the two chambers will reconcile the bills. The budget must be approved by this Friday, when the continuing resolution that funds government operations expires. Of course, they may have to temporarily extend that resolution if they can't come to an agreement on a final bill this week.

That's it for this week in Politics. See you tonight for the Daily Strike!

The Daily Strike-2/28/09-Sebelius

Good evening once again from Montreal. Bad night for The Strike, as the Sharks fall to the Canadiens. But I will still perform my solemn duty and report on the day in politics.

SEBELIUS: The biggest news of the day is that Obama will reportedly tap Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Sebelius had indicated during the transition that she wanted to remain Governor, but she has apparently changed her mind. Sebelius was seen as the most likely choice to fill the position since former Senator Tom Daschle withdrew his name early this month because of tax issues. Sebelius, if confirmed, will be at the center of the fight for Obama's effort at comprehensive health reform. However, she will not have the dual role of health czar, as was planned for Daschle. That position will be filled separately in the coming days. Should she and Gary Locke both be confirmed, the cabinet selection process will finally come to an end.

There are a couple of interesting political consequences of this decision. First, the Kansas Senate seat held by retiring Republican Sam Brownback will almost certainly remain in the GOP column. Sebelius was considered the only Democrat to have any shot at winning a Senate seat in a reliably Republican state.

The current Lieutenant Governor is Mark Parkinson, a former Republican who switched parties to run with Sebelius in 2006. He has indicated that he will not seek reelection as governor in 2010. Therefore, it's likely that the next governor of Kansas will be Sam Brownback. Hello creationism!

FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT: Today at CPAC, two great Americans, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh inspired a generation of blue sports jacket and khakis-wearing right-wingers. Using the time-tested political strategy of completely belittling vast swaths of the American population, and mocking an enormously popular President, these fine individuals brought the crowd to their feet with some of these remarkable words:

-Ann Coulter rejected Obama's comparison to Lincoln because "Lincoln wouldn't have texted with Scarlett Johannsen and wouldn't vote present." (seriously Ann, you're still on that voting present thing? That was so...last May).

-Rush Limbaugh, in a speech that went an hour longer than scheduled, said that the Republican party should not try to have better policy ideas, but instead, should try to slow down the legislative process to highlight differences in philosophy. He also claimed that liberals have psychosis, that Obama wants the country to be fearful so he can implement his radically socialist policies. He also called us out on our true objectives: "They (liberals) see these inequalities, these inequities that capitalism produces. How do they try to fix it? Do they try to elevate those at the bottom? No, they try to tear down the people at the top." Got it.

Ladies and gentleman, your 2009 Republican party.