Former N.Y. Gov. Pataki Announces Plan to Repeal Health Care Law

NYT Poll: Relatively good news for GOP. Bad news for Dems
Now that we know that self-identified Tea Party members in the New York Times poll "tend to be Republican," there are interesting implications for the GOP. The overall data have interesting implications for the Democrats, too. They're not good ones. A favorable view of the Republican Party is held by 54 percent of Tea Partyers, which is the same percentage of them who self-identify with the GOP. This highlights why the GOP dances with them. It wants to make sure the Tea Party...

SSP Daily Digest: 4/15 (Afternoon Edition)

Tea Party Group Picks Its Dream Candidate To Take On Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the prime electoral target for the Tea Party movement. At a press conference in Washington this morning, one group of Tea partiers said they found the woman to defeat the head of the Senate Democrats this November in Nevada -- ultra-conservative former state legislator Sharron Angle. Angle was on hand this morning as the Tea Party Express announced its list of electoral targets . She took the mic near the end of the press conference to tout her campaign to...

Orange to Blue: Manan Trivedi, PA-06
Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District is a gerrymandered monster stretching from industrial Reading to leafy Lower Merion, cobbled together following the 2000 Census to create a slightly R-leaning District in Philadelphia's western suburbs. Ever since its creation, it has been a prime Democratic target. Dan Wofford tried to best Jim Gerlach in 2002, and I'm sure you remember Lois Murphy's nail-biter challenges against the Incumbent Gerlach in 2004 and 2006. It has always been a tight...

Tea Party Express Comes To A Head On Tax Day
After a cross-country tour lasting nearly three weeks, the Tea Party Express came to a head Thursday with activists gathering in the nation's capital and at thousands of regional rallies to mark the April 15 Income Tax filing deadline. In Washington, demonstrators waved signs that read "Don't Tread on Me" and "Follow the Constitution" as they gathered at Freedom Plaza near the White House to kick off an afternoon of events that was scheduled to include libertarian radio host Neal Boortz. The...

Pataki Says He Won't Run for NY Senator
Albany, N.Y. - In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, former Governor George Pataki has announced he will not attempt to unseat U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand this fall. Pataki said he instead will focus on an organization called "Revere America," which will launch a Grassroots petition campaign this week to Repeal and Reform recently passed Healthcare Reform. Pataki did not rule out a run for the White House in 2012 Thursday afternoon in Syracuse, former Rudy Giuliani advisor David...

Sen. Fritz Hollings: President for the Country
After ten years of campaigning, Barack Obama came to the Presidency with little chance to learn about the federal Budget and globalization. He fell into the hands of Larry Summers, Timothy Geithner, et al., who feel that as long as finance is protected and the Stock Market up, people will invest more, borrow more and the banks can make more loans. They think this alone makes for a strong economy. They give no thought to research, development, manufacture, services, mining, and the effect of...

Waterloo Redux
Image via Wikipedia Back on March 21, David Frum wrote his now infamous “Waterloo” post on the Republican folly of maintaining its identity as the Party of No vis-a-vis Health Care Reform. Frum argued that for all the bluster involved in opposing Democrats’ proposed Reform, failing to come to the table with anything approaching meaningful ideas handed Democrats a historic legislative victory and sealed the GOP’s doomed future. Perhaps not tomorrow, or even by the...

Levy says he won't close north country prisons if elected
Steven A. Levy said Thursday that he’d keep all State Prisons open and absolve counties from having to construct new jails if he’s elected Governor this fall. “The construction of a jail is a huge impact to the local taxpayers and you get zero reimbursement from the State,” the Suffolk County executive said during a campaign stop in Watertown. “It’s insane when you realize the State has excess beds in its present facilities and it’s going to close them...

An Angry Dodd Rails Against GOP On Senate Floor (VIDEO)
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, took to the Senate floor today to tie Republicans to "big banks" and to accuse them of preparing to Filibuster a bill that would put an end to Bailouts. Dodd attacked Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his claims that the Financial Reform bill Dodd is working on would lead to even more Bailouts. "You see, these Wall Street firms believe that no matter how much we hate Bailouts, if they're important enough at the end of the...

An Angry Dodd Rails Against GOP On Senate Floor (VIDEO)
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, took to the Senate floor today to tie Republicans to "big banks" and to accuse them of preparing to Filibuster a bill that would put an end to Bailouts. Dodd attacked Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his claims that the Financial Reform bill Dodd is working on would lead to even more Bailouts. "You see, these Wall Street firms believe that no matter how much we hate Bailouts, if they're important enough at the end of the...

How will Lynch spend political capital?
Gov. John Lynch's poll numbers show him slipping, but not dangerously so. And he's in no apparent peril of losing Reelection. Though he hasn't announced his intentions yet, the expectation is that Lynch will seek a fourth two-year term. So the question becomes: If Lynch doesn't have to spend too much of his political capital on himself, how would he use it in 2010? Would he invest it in other key races involving Democrats across the state in 2010? The highlights of the two-year...

How will Lynch spend political capital?
Gov. John Lynch's poll numbers show him slipping, but not dangerously so. And he's in no apparent peril of losing Reelection. Though he hasn't announced his intentions yet, the expectation is that Lynch will seek a fourth two-year term. So the question becomes: If Lynch doesn't have to spend too much of his political capital on himself, how would he use it in 2010? Would he invest it in other key races involving Democrats across the state in 2010? The highlights of the two-year...

Sen. Dodd Calls Out Republican Misinformation On Financial Reform
Speaking on the Senate floor today, a visibly upset Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) lambasted his Republican colleagues for refusing to work in good faith on passing meaningful Financial regulatory Reform.  Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, called out Republicans for misrepresenting parts of the package.  In recent weeks, Republicans have adopted talking points crafted by strategist Frank Luntz , to paint Reform as a "permanent Bailout."  Dodd is specifically angered by...

Scott Brown losing Republican support.
Senator Scott Brown has never claimed to be a conservative.  Senator Brown is there to represent the people who elected him and that is the state of MA  . More Senators and Congressmen should worry about their states and districts instead of the Party and we'll all be better off. Brown is a "moderate". The Dems have long been complaining that there are no "moderates" in the Republican Party in Congress. But there are many. Brown, Collins, Snowe, Alexander,...

Pataki Won't Run For Senate, Will Run HCR Repeal Group Instead
Former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) says he won't challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) for her Senate seat this fall. It's yet another potential challenger who has decided not to run against Gillibrand, despite her unimpressive poll numbers. Polls showed her losing to several potential Republican candidates, including Pataki. Pataki will instead form a national organization aimed at repealing Health Care reform law, he told the Wall Street Journal . The organization is called Revere...

Pataki Rules Out Run Against Gillibrand
Former New York Governor George Pataki has announced he will not run for the US Senate against Kirsten Gillibrand. This is a bummer. He had a good shot at defeating her. (I would have said “beating” her but didn’t want to be accused of some sort of Freudian slip.) The Wall Street Journal : Instead, he said in an interview Tuesday that he would create a new national organization aimed at building support to Repeal the recently enacted Health-care overhaul. Mr. Pataki’s...

Harry Reid Charging Ahead On Wall Street Reform
Fresh off their victory on Health Care, Democrats are pushing ahead with Wall Street reform despite Republican objections, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Thursday. "We have talked about this enough. We have negotiated this enough," said an assertive Reid during a leadership press briefing. The bill, he said, could come to the floor as early as next week. He dismissed GOP objections that the bill amounts to a permanent Bailout of large banks. "This is as Orwellian as it...

McConnell lacks support to block Wall Street reform bill
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) does not have enough solid commitments from GOP lawmakers to block consideration of a Democratic Wall Street reform bill. McConnell has circulated a letter within the GOP conference that would have Republicans pledge to block a motion to proceed to a financial regulatory reform bill unless Democrats agree to reopen it for Bipartisan negotiations. But McConnell has fallen short of the 41 signatures he needs to send Senate Majority Leader...

McConnell lacks support to block Wall Street reform bill
Source: The Hill McConnell lacks support to block Wall Street reform bill By Alexander Bolton - 04/15/10 02:44 PM ET Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) does not have enough solid commitments from GOP lawmakers to block consideration of a Democratic Wall Street reform bill. McConnell has circulated a letter within the GOP conference that would have Republicans pledge to block a motion to proceed to a financial regulatory reform bill unless Democrats agree to reopen it for...

Republican And Former Bear Stearns Exec Enters The Ring for Senator from New York
© on image NY-SEN Candidate David Malpass As the names of those not running against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) continue to pile up, one Republican and former Bear Stearns executive announced today that he will enter the race. David Malpass was the chief Economist at Bear Stearns from 2001 until its collapse in 2008. He also served during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, in the Treasury and State departments and also as a congressional staffer. In his announcement...

The GOP runs out of options for taking back the Senate
There's no denying that the GOP is looking good going into the Midterms this November. But we don't know exactly yet how good -- it'll depend a lot on the State of The Economy over the coming months. And the fact is that, after two catastrophic Elections, Republicans have a lot of ground to make up. If conditions stay extremely favorable to the GOP, then it's very possible that control of the House of Representatives could flip. The universe of House seats that could be in serious play is...

Obama Will Meet With Senate Leaders
• "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev.; Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky.; Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy , D-Vt.; and Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions , R-Ala., have been invited to" an "April 21 meeting at the White House" to discuss the Supreme Court vacancy with President Obama , NationalJournal.com reports. • "Democratic senators are urging" Obama "to abandon any hope of winning broad Republican support for his upcoming Supreme Court pick -- and to...

Progressive Breakfast: Bipartisanship Takes Backseat
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what Progressives need to affect Change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, Health Care, green energy, Financial Reform, affordable education and retirement security. Bipartisanship Takes Backseat To Curbing Wall Street WH puts tough Wall Street Reform over Bipartisanship. LAT: "...Obama told Congressional Leaders that he would not accept a weakened bill simply in the name of a Bipartisan accomplishment, White House Press...

Crist wants to be Lieberman
This may be a bit too inside-Sunshine State for ya'll - but take this as I&W that Crist is preparing the ground to stick the Middle Finger to FL Republicans. After weeks of protest and a deluge of messages, Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday vetoed a bill that would link teacher pay to student test scores and wipe out tenure for new teachers. "I know in my heart it's the right thing to do,'' Crist said of his Veto. His decision, announced shortly after noon in a Capitol news conference, came...