112th Congress officially sworn in, Boehner elected Speaker of the House

Democrats Turned Away From Pelosi in Record Numbers in Ceremonial Vote
The abandonment of Rep. Nancy Pelosi by 19 Democrats in the pro-forma vote for speaker of the House marked a breakdown in party loyalty of historic measure, according to the Washington Post. Not since 1913, when 23 Republicans bolted from the GOP's speaker nominee, has a Party Leader suffered so many defections, Congressional Research Service records show. Of the 19 Democrats who didn't support Pelosi, one voted "present" and the other 18 cast Protest ballots for some other Democratic House memb...

Nineteen Democrats Scorn Pelosi in Speaker Vote, WaPo Buries Story on Page A8
The first vote cast by the 110th Congress on January 4, 2007 was for election of Speaker of the House. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) won all 233 Democratic votes (including her own). All 202 Republicans voted for Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio. Two years later Pelosi secured 255 (including her own), and there was only one Democrat, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (N.Y.) who did not vote. Minority Leader Boehner received every Republican vote, save for his own and three other Republicans who didn't vote. By co...

Congress Recites the US Constitution
(NewsCore) - The 112th Congress kicked off its new session Thursday by reading the US Constitution aloud for the first time in history. Newly-minted Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) was first behind the podium, followed by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). In all, the reading done by a Bipartisan group of 53 members lasted about 90 minutes. Some antiquated parts of the founding document were omitted from the reading, including the provision about counting slaves and Native Ameri...

Speaker Boehner: GOP Will Not Increase Debt Limit Without Spending Cuts
Shouldn't Obama be in 100% agreement with Boehner here? Didn't he promise to reduce the Deficit by going through the Federal Budget line by line and get rid of those programs that do not work? gatewaypundit reported Speaker John Boehner said that Republicans will not agree to increase the Debt Limit without Spending Cuts. Boehner released a statement: Washington (Jan 6) House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement on the Debt limit: “ I’ve been notified that the...

DCCC chair: Our 2012 agenda will be making Pelosi Speaker again
The reknowned political satirist Tom Lehrer once declared that Henry Kissinger’s Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 made political satire redundant.  After reading about the DCCC’s new strategy to win back the House in 2012, I must admit that for the first time in my life I feel a bit of sympathy with the general sentiment.  Guess who Rep. Steve Israel, the DCCC chair, wants to make as his poster girl for 2012? House Democrats’ goal is to make Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) the Speaker of ...

Is Congress Listening to the American People?
Elected representatives are clearly talking more and more these days about listening to the American People. This is particularly true for the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner. As Politico put it in their Wednesday morning edition: “John Boehner will take the Speaker’s gavel with a commitment to restoring the House as an institution focused on listening to the American People.” The Washington Post reported that Boehner told reporters outside his apartment on Wednesday ...

Speaker Boehner On Birthers: The State Of Hawaii Has Said President Obama Was Born There. Thats Good Enough For Me
In his first interview since being sworn in as Speaker of the House, John Boehner makes it clear he has no questions about President Obama’s birth, saying “the State of Hawaii has said President Obama was born there. That’s good enough for me.” In the exclusive interview with NBC’s Brian Williams-set to air tonight on NBC Nightly News-Boehner does not say he’ll tell members of Congress to simply put the matter of the president’s birth aside:...

Promises, Shomises
The paint is still drying in new-members’ offices, but Republicans have already broken promises they made on the Campaign Trail, getting themselves in hot water with the American People and their own supporters. Here’s a look at what the media is saying about the Republicans’ not-so-promising first 24 hours in office: AP “PROMISES, PROMISES: GOP drops some out of the gate”: Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the Hou...

In House Constitutional Reading, Some Inconsistencies
Updated: 1:35PM ET House Representatives participated this morning in a full reading of the Constitution of the United States, marking the first such occasion in American history -- though the version of the Constitution that was read varied from the original document. (Watch video of the proceedings at left.) Following initial questions regarding which Constitutional document was being read - the amended or original Constitution - Rep. Bob Goodlatte, of Virginia, who is leading the proceedi...

At last, (some of) the Constitution is read
The Historic Incantation of the Constitution was delayed for about a half-hour, as various Democrats attempted to get the Republicans to actually read the whole Constitution, which, in the original text, has some iffy stuff about the enslavement and subjugation of various peoples. Republicans said they'd read the whole text "as amended," which means they're leaving out the stuff that amendments later changed. If we're whitewashing the shameful bits out of our founding document, we're not getting...

Brit Hume on Gavel Transfer: Pelosi Could Not Quite Believe that Today was Not About Her Video 1/5/11
Here is video of Brit Hume delivering a commentary last night on the first day of the 112th Congress. He summed it up perfectly when it comes to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “It was perhaps fitting that it took Nancy Pelosi longer to say her peace in surrendering her gavel to John Boehner than it took Boehner to say his. It was as if the nation’s first woman Speaker could not quite believe that today was not about her . . . “ Perfectly said. ...

What Do You Know? Nancy Pelosi Was A Historic Speaker!
This seems like the perfect punctuation mark to close out the reign of the hands-wodn worst Speaker of the House in our nation’s history. With 19 Democrats withholding support from Nancy Pelosi for House Speaker on Wednesday, it represented the largest defection from a party’s speaker nominee in nearly a century. The resistance in the Democratic Party to back now-former Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the ceremonial first vote of the 112th Congress registered higher than at any poi...

Conservative leader urges House to follow through on spending
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Influential conservative Dick Armey on Thursday urged the new House to take leadership in reducing the size of government and reining in spending by cutting "obnoxious programs" out of the Budget. Armey, a Republican and Veteran Washington insider who was the House Majority Leader in the late 1990's, has emerged as a force within the Tea Party movement. His FreedomWorks political action group has given direction, know-how, and financial support to many within Congress' rec...

Another House GOP Member Opts Out Of Congressional Health Plan
Another House GOP Member Opts Out Of Congressional Health Plan Moments ago, during a hearing in the Rules Committee, another Republican who supports repealing the Affordable Care Act announced that he would forgo the Federal Employers’ Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP) — the exchange that offers coverage at reduced rates to federal employees. Rep. Richard Nugent’s (R-FL) decision now brings the total number of Republicans who are staying out of Congressional coverage to seven, or...

John Boehner Releases Statement On Debt Ceiling
G.I. Wood Shop Inc. Mrs. Peel Oh…My Valve! V The K’s Caption This! An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later. “I’ve been notified that the Obama Administration intends to formally request an increase in the Debt Limit.  The American People will not stand for such an increase unless it is accompanied by meaningful action by the President and Congress to cut spending and end the job-killing spending binge in Washington.  While America canno...

Final Tab for Pelosis Speakership: $5.34 Trillion in New DebtOr $3.66 Billion Per Day
Thursday, January 06, 2011 By Terence P. Jeffrey Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (CNSNews.com) - In the 1,461 days that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) served as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the National Debt increased by a total of $5.343 Trillion ($5,343,452,800,321.37) or $3.66 billion per day ($3.657,394,113.84), according to official Debt number...

Boehner Dismisses CBOs Health Repeal Cost
Yahoo! Buzz House Speaker John Boehner is dismissing an estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that repealing President Barack Obama ’s health bill would increase the Deficit by $230 billion over 10 years. “The CBO is entitled to their opinion,” the Ohio Republican told reporters in his first Press Conference as speaker. “CBO can only provide a score based on the assumptions that are given to them,” he added. “If you go back and look at the health c...

Boehner claims he'll hold debt limit hostage
Reuters: U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday that any move to increase the United States' $14.3 Trillion Debt Limit must be accompanied by Spending Cuts. "The American People will not stand for such an increase unless it is accompanied by meaningful action by the President and Congress to cut spending and end the job-killing spending binge in Washington," Boehner said in a prepared statement. Boehner is doing his best to pretend that he has a strong hand, but let's not forget, if ...

CBO: Healthcare repeal price tag $230B
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Repealing the healthcare law -- sought by U.S. House Republicans -- would increase the federal Deficit by $230 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said. The non-partisan CBO's preliminary analysis of the Republicans' Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act boosted Democrats' claims that overturning President Obama's signature domestic bill would devastate the deficit, Politico reported. The CBO score on the Affordable Care Act indicated it would decrease th...

Boehners Opening Bid On the Debt Limit
John Boehner’s office released a statement on the Debt ceiling issue: I’ve been notified that the Obama Administration intends to formally request an increase in the Debt Limit. The American People will not stand for such an increase unless it is accompanied by meaningful action by the President and Congress to cut spending and end the job-killing spending binge in Washington. While America cannot default on its debt, we also cannot continue to borrow recklessly, dig ourselves deep...

Arkansas Republicans Just Proved They Dont Care About EthicsAgain
The House has voted to seat Representative-elect Fred Smith, the man from Mississippi who apparently stole money from a Public School.  There’s plenty of shame to be heaped on everyone for this vote, including the Democratic majority, but check out the margin: The Arkansas House voted to seat Rep. Elect Fred Smith (D-Mississippi) by a 89 to 1 vote.  Today’s vote basically said they either don’t care that he lives in Mississippi or were not convinced it was proven...

Rep. Joe Heck will accept congressional health insurance
Rep. Joe Heck, in one of his first moves in Congress, opposed a measure that would have required members of Congress to disclose whether they will accept government Health Care. Heck, in fact, will take advantage of the Congressional Health Insurance plan, his aides said. "Just like millions of Americans, Dr. Heck will be receiving his Insurance through his employer -- in this case the House of Representatives," Grant Hewitt, Heck's transition director, told the Sun. Democrats (once again) are m...

Filibuster Fears
Reining in the Filibuster would make it easier for Congressional majorities to enact their proposals—and to enact them in sufficiently coherent form that they have a chance of working as planned and being judged accordingly. As I say in the Comment: if it weren’t for the filibuster, the 111th Congress would have yielded a much better health-care program, including a strong Public Option; a larger and more intelligently structured stimulus; a return to Clinton-era Tax Rates for the ri...

One Week In...How Motivated are You NOW?
Hi Everyone! We are almost one week into the New Year, and there are lots of things to be happy about, if you think about them. There are also many ways to be motivated to make this year your best ever! Even if you blew all your resolutions in the first 12 hours of 2011, don't let that bum you out. Never give up! I will post some great video's that will hopefully motivate you for the rest of the year. If these don't work, well, don't get stuck in the cute kitteh's predicament above. If that vide...

House Cuts Its Own Spending
Yahoo! Buzz The Republican-controlled House today passed a resolution cutting House office budgets by 5% for the next two years, a move that won’t save a lot of money in the grand scheme of things but is likely to be cited by GOP as proof it moved quickly to cut spending. In 2010, House members’ allowances to pay for staff, office space, supplies and the like totaled between $1.4 and $2 million. Leaders and committees also received separate allowances. Members’ exact allowances...