112th Congress Begins: Gridlock on Horizon?

House GOP Does the Inevitable: Backtracks on Pledge to Cut $100 Billion this Year
Even if you put the close-to-impossible politics aside, any Budget wonk would have told the GOP that for purely technical reasons it was going to be almost impossible to deliver on the promise it made in its Pledge to America to cut $100 billion from the federal Budget this year. That's why it was anything but a surprise when, as Jackie Calmes noted in yesterday's New York Times, on the first day they formally took control of the House of Representatives Republicans did what every fiscal technic...

Reality TV Worth Watching:Congress Reads the Constitution Today
Will Democrats Leave the Chambers? In a tip of the hat to the Tea Party Conservatives who helped forge the new GOP majority, for the first time ever in the history of “the People’s House,” the entire U.S. Constitution will be read by members of the Congress to begin the session. This is something being derided, ridiculed and criticized by the left.  I think it may be one of the most moving things we will ever see on live television.  I hope you will put up a live link...

Abbreviated pundit round-up
Gail Collins takes a few pokes at the new Congress: There was lots of discussion of reform in the Senate, too, and the chamber jumped into a vigorous debate on Democratic proposals to change the rules. The plan would decimate several venerable traditions, like the one that allows one senator to bring all progress on a bill or a nomination to a screeching halt without having to reveal his or her identity. Everybody is now going home for two weeks to think about it. This sort of change can only ...

Constitutional Muster
For today's entertainment, we have the House Republicans taking turns reading the Constitution aloud.It reflects the influence of the Tea Party movement, which has celebrated the founding document and argues that Congress has blown the lid on federal spending by vastly exceeding the powers granted to it in the Constitution. Tea Party supporters say Congress could reduce taxes and spending if it would only stick to a strict interpretation of the document. (Another rule of the new Republican majo...

Republicans already breaking their promises
Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won’t be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won’t be allowed to propose changes to the Legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic control. Is business as usual really back so fa...

PROMISES, PROMISES: GOP drops some out of the gate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won’t be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won’t be allowed to propose changes to the Legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic control. Is business as...

PROMISES, PROMISES: GOP drops some out of the gate
WASHINGTON—Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won't be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won't be allowed to propose changes to the Legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic control. Is business as usual really back...

PROMISES, PROMISES: GOP drops some out of the gate (AP)
WASHINGTON – Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won't be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won't be allowed to propose changes to the Legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic control. Is business as usual really b...

GOP Breaking Promises in the House
(WASHINGTON) — Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won't be kept. (See The White House photo blog.) And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won't be allowed to propose changes to the Legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic co...

One Branch of Government Down.
Michael Reagan, FloydReports.com It takes what a lot of my Jewish friends call chutzpah for House Democrats who ran the House of Representatives since 2003 as if it were their solely owned domain for so long, now to demand a policy of the very Bipartisanship they scorned. With Republicans now at last in control of the House, Democrats who ruled the lower body with an iron hand, and stone deaf to the voice of the GOP minority, now cry out for a policy that will give them the important role in t...

PROMISES, PROMISES: GOP drops some out of the gate
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio holds up the gavel during the first session of the 112th Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011. Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House. Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Budget in one year won't be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to Repeal the Health Care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won't be allowed to propose changes to the l...

The "Undo Everything" Congress Begins, With Health Care
Did you think that, having regained control of the House, the GOP will stop being the "Party of No" and start governing, or at least doing something about the challenges facing the country? Think again. The 112th Congress will not be the "Do Something" Congress that the 111th was. It would be a relief if this turned out to be the "Do Nothing" Congress that the new House "one-week-off-for-every-two-weeks-worked" schedule suggests. Instead, it's already sh...

A changing of the gavel as 112th Congress is sworn in
The House and the Senate have a split personality by design, but Wednesday's debut of the 112th Congress revealed a stark contrast between the two chambers that could define the direction of every major debate over the next two years. This Story A changing of the gavel as 112th Congress is sworn in John Boehner sets humble tone as he claims House gavel Boehner assumes speaker's gavel House Republicans adopt new rules for tax and spending Legislation For GOP freshmen, congressional swearing-in...

GOP bends its own new House rules
Just hours after taking control of the House, Republicans passed a sweeping set of rules promising transparency and reform. But the new majority is already showing these promises aren’t exactly set in stone. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 After calling for bills to go through a regular committee process, the bill that would Repeal the Health Care law will not go through a single committee. Despite promising a more open amendment process for bills, amendments for the ...

House Republicans End Floor Voting Rights for Delegates from Puerto Rico, Guam, D.C. and Samoa
The Lame Duck Is Waddling...Melt The Phones! https://bit.ly/9VUyHk via @AddToAny 1 month ago Obama waives ban on Child Soldiers in Sudan,Chad. Ok's by Executive Order. Will fund Gov, https://wp.me/pCanK-2al #TCOT #TLOT #TEAPARTY 1 month ago I had been looking for something to post about regarding the new Congress. It may seem small, and not a Big Deal. But it really is a Big Deal. Why would one party think they could install delegates to vote on amendments? Why just the am...

Texas' GOP freshmen plan to be aggressive in U.S. House
Texas' GOP freshmen plan to be aggressive in U.S. House 12:00 AM CST on Thursday, January 6, 2011 By TODD J. GILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News [email protected] WASHINGTON - Newly minted U.S. Rep. Bill Flores of Bryan is impatient. One of three Texas freshmen who ousted longtime Democrats as part of the Tea Party surge, he said Wednesday on his first day on the job that he can't wait to lop huge chunks of federal spending and overturn the president's Health Care plan, or at leas...

Congressional Calendar January 6, 2011
Do you hear that? It's the Constitution. The House will have a Bipartisan reading of the document that serves as the supreme law of the land at approximately 11:00 a.m. ET. It should take one and a half to two hours to complete. Afterwards, the House will vote on a resolution offered by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., under suspension rules, which require a two-thirds majority, to cut Congress' Budget by five percent. Republicans estimate that this cut will save $35 million in the first year. House Re...

Dems say GOP exempting $1 trillion from deficit
Democrats are accusing newly empowered House Republicans of exempting more than $1 Trillion in proposed Tax Cuts and higher spending over the next 10 years from a promise to cut federal Deficits. The exemptions include a bill to Repeal last year's Health Care Legislation as well as GOP-backed proposals extending a series of Tax Cuts for upper income filers that are due to expire in two years, according to a tally several Senate Democrats were to present at a midmorning new conference Thursday. S...

GOP Freshman Grapples With Historic, Mundane
There are 96 new members of the U.S. House of Representatives — 87 of them Republicans. One of those new GOP members is David Schweikert who spent Wednesday dealing with matters both historic and mundane. Schweikert, who is from Arizona's 5th district, which includes Tempe, Scottsdale and a huge swath of the desert, defeated a Democratic Incumbent. He sees the federal Debt as a looming crisis, but early Wednesday, he was trying to figure the new cappuccino machine in his office. "We got fo...

Stimulate This
It seems like all the members of the new Congress have their own ideas on how to properly boost The Economy and stimulate job growth. It's their number-one agenda item. Problem is, they tend to fall into two opposing camps on how to best achieve that. The Democrats, in general, seem to think that the best way is to find those who still have money, take it away from them, and then spend it in ways they think will best help the economy. The Republicans, in general, want to let folks keep their ow...

Gates hopes to preempt Congress
Defense Secretary Robert Gates will get a jump on the annual Budget rollout Thursday by unveiling a series of proposed Pentagon spending decisions, including a call to kill the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Like a past preemptive Budget strike, Gates’s new announcement will help him control the message — providing him a platform to sell Controversial decisions to Congress, the defense industry and opponents in his own department — all notorious for hanging on to their veste...

POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Thursday, January 6, 2011
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more. CNN: 'Mr. Smith' Filibuster change introduced in the Senate Senate Democrats on Wednesday introduced Legislation that would tighten rules on the use of the Filibuster in the legislative chamber. In a nod to the classic movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, reintroduced his "Mr. Smith Bill," which would r...

Gates proposing program cuts in military budget
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates is announcing the latest round of cost-cutting measures for the Military, including a plan to do away with a new amphibious vehicle that can ferry Troops to shore while under fire. The plan is aimed at staving off potentially deeper cuts by the White House or Congress by showing that the Pentagon is taking seriously a call to rein in the nation’s Deficit. The Defense Department is responsible for the biggest piece of discretionary spen...

Fight to Keep the Filibuster
Whether we here at home recognize it, we are now locked in a death struggle in the “new” U.S. Congress.  Picture the gnarly-knuckled meatpaws of a Teamster choking the life out of you, and that’s where we are.    This is US for liberty or lose the century to THEM. Our tenuous step forward in winning back the House has shown there is still some life in the conservative ranks, but we all know we are exhausted from calling, writing, emailing, marching, protesti...

Wernick" Here's how to easily aid immigrants, Obama
The Obama administration has disappointed immigrants and their supporters. The President increased enforcement against undocumented immigrants. He hoped to win Republicans' support for a path to Citizenship for undocumented immigrants, but his actions only stigmatized immigrants, reinforcing the notion that they are a burden on our country. If the President is serious about justice for undocumented immigrants, he can use his power as head of the Executive Branch of government - the branch tha...