"Three top committee chairmen are ousted" by Sam Hananel, Associated Press | November 4, 2010
WASHINGTON — Some of the Democratic Party’s heaviest hitters went down in the House on Tuesday, a sign of the breadth and scope of voter discontent with incumbents regardless of their clout or the perks they brought home to constituents.
The shocking upsets included three powerful committee chairmen and a host of others ousted at their peak of influence.
Representative Ike Skelton, a 34-year incumbent and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, lost his central Missouri seat despite a reputation as a conservative Democrat who won millions for his district’s two military bases.
In South Carolina, John Spratt, House Budget Committee chairman, lost a hard-fought campaign for a 15th term in a district that had not elected a Republican since 1883.
Related: South Carolina's Saving Grace
They really put the rest of the country to shame.
And Jim Oberstar, Transportation Committee chairman and dean of Minnesota’s congressional delegation, succumbed to a political novice after 36 years of seeking more money to fix highways and bridges and bringing pork-barrel projects home.
“When you want to topple a regime, you try to decapitate it, and they have decapitated the leadership of the Democratic Party,’’ said Ross Baker, a congressional scholar at Rutgers University.
The choice of words is a bit inflammatory and strong, isn't it?
All three lawmakers — among the most prominent and respected members of Congress — lost to Republicans who courted Tea Party movement support in districts that have turned increasingly conservative....
Yeah, the Tea Party took the House.
Other high-profile Democrats who lost include Representative Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, a 26-year incumbent; Representative Chet Edwards in Texas, who served 10 terms; and Representative Earl Pomeroy in North Dakota, who served nine terms....
Kanjorski spoke out against the banks so I'm not surprised he's gone (just like Grayson).
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"With clashes likely, Obama, GOP talk of cooperation" by Matt Viser and Bryan Bender, Globe Staff / November 4, 2010
The vote Tuesday left Democrats with considerable leverage over the flow of Capitol Hill legislation because they still control the Senate....
The lamest duck of all:
At a White House press conference that included several moments of introspection, Obama acknowledged that he may have seemed out of touch in the White House. He took personal responsibility for not doing more to improve the fortunes of average Americans over the past two years....
Pfft!
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I'll tell you who he really serves:
"Obama’s Asia trip may show if vote has dimmed his star" by Christopher Torchia, Associated Press / November 4, 2010
There is uncertainty, too, in the Middle East, where some Israelis believe Obama will have less leverage over them because of his party’s electoral losses. Many Israelis mistrust Obama....
Many hate him.
For many Muslims, American policies do not differ markedly from one president to the next, and represent the hegemonic designs of a Western superpower, or even a vendetta against Islam.
In other words, the Muslims see the fraud in our foreign policy.
And THEY AIN'T the ONLY ONES!!
Obama has presided over the drawdown of US forces in Iraq, a plan set in motion by Bush, but a troop surge in Afghanistan and obstacles to a deal between Israel and the Palestinians appear to have undermined outreach to Muslims....
Obama is popular in Brazil, where half the population is black, and in him they continue to see inspiration; Latin America’s biggest nation has few blacks in top political posts.
WTF is that paragraph supposed to mean?
In Europe, meanwhile, there is a sense of bewilderment at the divisive culture of US politics....
You guys don't see who is driving and controlling it?
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"The loss of Democratic control of the House, the erosion of the Democratic majority in the Senate, and big GOP gains at the state level have broadly changed the political landscape as Obama begins looking ahead to his reelection campaign in 2012....
The president's words reflected the new political reality, sinking in by the day, that he must give ground to have hope of advancing the leftover promises of his 2008 campaign.
As if he fulfilled any.
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Oh, wait, found one even lamer:
"House Democrats split on direction; Two vying to be Pelosi’s No. 2" by Mark Arsenault and Matt Viser, Globe Staff / November 9, 2010
WASHINGTON — The expectation that House Democrats will soon confirm Speaker Nancy Pelosi as their new minority leader, despite her leading role in last week’s disastrous midterm elections, has led to internal misgivings about party strategy that could fuel a fight over the second-ranking leadership post....
The all-Democratic Massachusetts delegation mostly favors confirming Pelosi as minority leader, but not everyone is enthusiastic.
“If the Red Sox came in and lost every game of the year and they kept the manager at the end of the year, that’s a problem,’’ US Representative Michael Capuano said in an interview. “That’s what we seem to be on the verge of doing.’’
Capuano, a Somerville Democrat, said the entire leadership team should step down after last Tuesday’s election landslide, in which the Democratic Party lost some 60 House seats with several close races still being counted. But since the caucus has produced no viable alternative, Capuano will back Pelosi, his office said....
What a sad commentary on the state of the Democrat Party.
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"Dissatisfaction with Pelosi mounting
She isn't wearing it well:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seen at a American Veterans Disabled groundbreaking ceremony yesterday, startled many Democrats by running for minority leader. (Win Mcnamee/ Getty Images)
Related: First Female Speaker Failed
So that is what failure looks like.
WASHINGTON — In a fresh sign of turmoil among defeated Democrats, a growing number of the rank and file say they will not support House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a politically symbolic roll call when the new Congress meets in January.
“The reality is that she is politically toxic,’’ said Representative Mike Quigley of Illinois, one of several Democrats trying to pressure Pelosi to step aside as her party’s leader in the wake of historic election losses to Republicans last week.
Pelosi startled many Democrats with a quick postelection announcement that she would run for minority leader. She has yet to draw an opponent for the post. Party elections are scheduled for next week, although a postponement is possible.
In the interim, Pelosi’s critics have become more vocal in their efforts to retire her from the party leadership.
There is “starting to be a sense that this may not be as much of a done deal as people might have thought,’’ Representative Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania said of Pelosi’s quest to remain the top Democrat.
“If enough people come out and voice a little discomfort with the idea of her continuing on, maybe she would reconsider,’’ said Altmire....
Fat chance!
Pelosi’s office declined to comment yesterday on calls for her to step aside, but she was mounting a robust defense of her record. In an op-ed in USA Today, Pelosi blamed the election results on....
Oh, USA Today is so yesterday -- just like you, Nan.
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"Divided Congress faces key deadlines; Extending Bush tax cuts, unemployment benefits among tough challenges" by Mark Arsenault, Globe Staff / November 14, 2010
WASHINGTON — A deeply divided Congress is being called back into session this week to deal with a host of urgent issues, setting the stage for a showdown between a wounded Democratic Party and newly empowered Republicans....
The recalled Congress, including some 60 members ousted in 2010 elections, and with Nancy Pelosi still presiding as House speaker, must decide whether to extend Bush-era tax cuts that expire at year’s end. A Massachusetts family making the median income of about $81,000 would pay an extra $1,800 in taxes next year unless Congress takes action, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation research group.
Not only could they have done that way earlier, the false debate made it sound like it was only benefiting millionaires.
The lame-duck Congress must also decide whether to delay the enactment of a 23-percent pay cut for doctors who treat Medicare patients, and whether about 2 million jobless Americans will lose their unemployment benefits during the holidays.
Could have done all that before the elections.
To add to the degree of difficulty, dealing with these problems could add to the federal deficit at a time when post-election sentiment is to try to balance the budget and there’s little indication the Republican election landslide has eased partisanship on Capitol Hill.
“There are a lot of issues the Democrats would like to deal with before Republicans take over the House,’’ said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University professor of history and public affairs. But “Republicans will be more powerful within a few months, so it’s not clear why they would give in to the Democrats at this point and do anything that would get them in trouble with their base.’’
There could be a political price to pay by all parties, however, if gridlock over the next several weeks results in higher taxes for the middle class....
For President Obama, who said after the election that he and his party took a “shellacking,’’ the lame-duck session is his first opportunity to reboot his chilly relationship with congressional Republicans who have opposed nearly his entire agenda. The president has invited congressional leaders from both parties to the White House on Thursday to discuss the tax impasse, and has signaled that he is willing to compromise on tax cuts for higher incomes....
Some Democrats see the expiring tax cuts on upper incomes as an opening to attack the deficit without raising the ire of the middle class. “There is an opportunity to begin to deal with the difficult issue of the deficit, since extending the cut for the wealthiest Americans would require on the order of $600 billion to $700 billion of borrowing over the next 10 years,’’ said Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, in an interview.
Well, WHERE YOU BEEN the LAST FOUR YEARS!?
The short session is the last gasp for the Democratic majority in the House before it must surrender control to the Republicans when the new Congress is sworn in this January.
What a FAILURE they were!
The GOP also gained six US Senate seats, though the Democrats, who will control 53 seats next year, will maintain a majority. A question hovering over the lame-duck session is whether Democrats will return to Capitol Hill undeterred, or cowed by their Election Day rebuke....
If they try to cram through crap we don't want they will lose the presidency for sure in 2012.
The tax issue is just one of several deadline decisions facing Congress in the lame-duck session....
If the long-term unemployed program is not reauthorized, 2 million people will lose benefits, including 52,000 from Massachusetts, she said. Reauthorizing the program for another year would cost $60 billion.
Banks got way more.
It’s a sticky issue in the current political climate because the benefits have been paid by the government by emergency borrowing, which adds to the deficit....
Yeah, I noticed WHENEVER it is something the PEOPLE WANT it is a STICKY ISSUE!
And since when has this government been bothered by borrowing?
Other items before the Congress this month include a food safety bill that has been stuck in the US Senate, and the so-called DREAM Act, a proposal to provide a path to citizenship for certain young illegal immigrants who attend college or serve in the military.
If you serve the Empire we will let you in.
I'll bet that slides through with the don't ask, don't tell provision during the lame-duck.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who won reelection over a furious Tea Party-fueled challenge in the midterm election, pledged during his campaign to bring the DREAM Act forward in the lame-duck session.
Related: Did Harry Reid Steal Nevada Senate Seat?
Sure smells that way.
Many conservatives staunchly oppose anything resembling “amnesty’’ for people who came to the US illegally. A number of legislative compromises over the past five years have failed.
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