Obama, Biden have private meetings

W.H. taps Sperling for economic council chair
The White House has selected Gene Sperling as the new chair of the president’s National Economic Council, according to an administration official – a reprise of the role Sperling played in the Clinton Administration. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 Sperling had been an adviser to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and helped broker a Compromise between the White House and congressional Republicans over an extension of the Bush-era Tax Cuts for the nation’s top...

Why Is John Boehner's Gavel So Big?
As outgoing Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi officially handed over her job to John Boehner on Wednesday. In doing so, she gave him the House's symbol of power: the Speaker's gavel. "I now pass this gavel, which is larger than most gavels here, but the gavel of choice of Speaker Boehner," Pelosi said, a cheeky remark that elicited laughter from the Representatives gathered in the chamber. She wasn't kidding. Boehner's gavel is so big, it resembles a croquet mallet. Sadly, it won't be the one...

Boehner on Birthers: "It's Not Up to Me to Tell Them What to Think"
House Speaker John Boehner was asked by NBC's Brian Williams today about how much responsibility he feels for an incident on the House floor this morning in which an apparent "birther" yelled out from the gallery while the Constitution was being read. As Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) read the portion of the Constitution mandating that only a "natural-born citizen" may be president, a woman in the gallery shouted, "Except Obama, except Obama." You can watch the video at left. Williams noted tha...

Happy Hour Roundup
* Did anyone else notice that GOP Reps. Michele Bachmann and Steve King -- both Tea Party chieftains who routinely wrap themselves and their policy preferences in the Constitution -- were conspicuously absent from today's reading? My understanding is that the arrangement was first-come-first-serve, so all you had to do to read is show up early. Maybe they had good reasons for missing the reading. But given that Bachmann and King never miss a chance to bask in the Constitution's reflected glor...

House Republicans challenge Obama on debt limit
WASHINGTON (AP) — In power scarcely a day, House Republicans bluntly told the White House on Thursday its request to raise the nation’s $14.3 Trillion Debt Limit will require federal Spending Cuts to win their approval, laying down an early marker in a new era of divided government. Speaker John Boehner made the challenge as the new GOP majority voted to cut funding for House members’ own offices and committee operations by $35 million. Rank and File Republicans described that ...

Boehner: Sure Obama's A Citizen, But I Won't Tell Others 'What To Think' (VIDEO)
In his first big interview as Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-OH) told NBC's Brian Williams that he believes President Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen, but won't tell the other members of his Caucus "what to think." "The state of Hawaii has said that President Obama was born there," Boehner said. "That's good enough for me." [TPM SLIDESHOW: Meet The New House Republican Leadership] Williams then pressed Boehner on whether he will tell some of his colleagues -- who are co-sponsoring legisl...

Oops! Two Republicans Weren't Sworn In -- but Voted Anyway
Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas. (Credit: AP) This morning, the House Rules Committee started meeting to consider amendments to the Health Care Repeal bill being pushed by Republicans. Aides warned that the meeting would go all day thanks to Democratic opposition and amendments, and indeed, it dragged into the afternoon. That's when members realized they had a problem: One of the Republicans on the committee, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), was not officially a member of Congress. That's because he m...

Republican bid to scrap healthcare hits snag (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican efforts to scrap President Barack Obama's Healthcare Reform took a hit on Thursday when Budget analysts said Repeal would add billions of dollars to the federal Budget Deficit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated overturning the reform signed by Obama last year would add about $230 billion to the deficit by 2021 and result in 32 million fewer people having Health Insurance. That was a blow to Republican campaign promises to slas...

Washington Extra Its genetic
Forget about the branch. President Barack Obama offered the whole olive tree to the business community today with the appointment of JP Morgan Chase executive William Daley as White House Chief of Staff. Daley also knows something about politics. He comes from Chicago where politics has a history of being played bare-knuckled style. Oh, and his brother is the Daley who is stepping down as Chicago mayor, which opened the way for Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former White House chief of staff (whom ...

Whos on tonight, 1.6
CABLE Fox News “The O’Reilly Factor” : Juan Williams; Laura Ingraham; Roseanne Barr, Megyn Kelly “Hannity” : John Fund, columnist for The Wall Street Journal; Penny Nance, CEO of Concerned Women for America; Joe Trippi, Democratic Political Strategist “On the Record with Greta van Susteren” : Sen. John McCain; Sen. Jon Kyl; Rep. Paul Ryan MSNBC “Hardball with Chris Matthews” : Chuck Todd, NBC News Chief White House Correspond...

Will Washington's liberal elite embrace Ted Williams?
Let's see how long it takes for Barack Obama and the Washington liberal elite to embrace the story of Ted Williams. There is a possibility the Homeless African-American male vaulted into celebrity by a YouTube video clip ends up at the White House for an Obama photo op, or in the VIP balcony during Obama's forthcoming State of the Union address. But there also is a distinct possibility Williams will not. Examine the blur of positive developments that have visited Williams this week. In a matter ...

Baucus warns GOP against 'playing chicken' on debt limit
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is warning Republicans against "playing chicken" on increasing the statutory Debt Limit. The Finance Committee Chairman agreed with recent GOP calls to reduce the Deficit, but said such efforts should be done in a "serious, Bipartisan Fashion" that "doesn't risk the full faith and credit of our economy and our country in the process," according to a statement released by his office. "Rather than waiting until the last minute, we need to work together with our colleagu...

Historic Constitution reading comes with glitches
WASHINGTON -- In a symbolic move by a new Republican majority, the people who make our laws read the document that is the foundation for our laws in its entirety in Congress. Ga. Politics news, helpful links PolitiFact Georgia » David Wyss: State Governments have little ability to stimulate job growth in the short run. But like lawmaking itself, Thursday's unprecedented reading of the U.S. Constitution by members of the House didn't come without glitches -- including some involving Georg...

Geithner, corporate CFOs to talk tax reform next week
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is scheduled to meet next week with corporate chief financial officers about Tax Reform and investment incentives, a Treasury spokeswoman confirmed Thursday afternoon. The spokeswoman did not say which CFOs might attend the Jan. 14 gathering, but did signal that the meeting would be one in a series of get-togethers on those topics. She also stressed that the department would be reaching out to a wide range of stakeholders and groups when it comes to corporate ta...

John Edwards cut from wife's will
Elizabeth Edwards, the late wife of former Presidential Candidate John Edwards, has left him out of the will she signed before she died last month. The document, dated 1 December, names Catharine, Ms Edwards' 28-year-old daughter, as the executor of the will. Mr Edwards and his wife separated one year ago after revelations he had fathered a child during an affair. Elizabeth Edwards died at the age of 61 on 7 December after a long battle with Breast Cancer. Ms Edwards has left her personal e...

Elizabeth Edwards' will makes no mention of husband John
Chicago | Thu Jan 6, 2011 6:32pm EST Chicago (Reuters) - Elizabeth Edwards, who died of Breast Cancer last month, left her estate to her Children and made no mention of her estranged husband, former Sen. John Edwards, in her will. Filed just days before her death, Edwards' will names daughter Cate Edwards, 28, as executor and leaves the estate to her and the couple's other two children, Emma Claire and Jack. "All of my furniture, furnishings, household goods, jewelry, China, silverware and pe...

Elizabeth Edwards Will: Left John Out
Elizabeth Edwards's final will and testament reveals she left nothing to her cheating husband John Edwards, who fathered a child with a Democratic campaign aide during his 2008 bid for the presidential nomination. John was not mentioned once in the will; instead, the couple's oldest daughter Cate was named executor, and everything was left to the couple's three Children. "All of my furniture, furnishings, household goods, jewelry, China, silverware and personal effects and any automobiles own...

Elizabeth Edwards' will makes no mention of husband John
Filed just days before her death, Edwards' will names daughter Cate Edwards, 28, as executor and leaves the estate to her and the couple's other two Children, Emma Claire and Jack. "All of my furniture, furnishings, household goods, jewelry, China, silverware and personal effects and any automobiles owned by me at the time of my death I give and bequeath to my Children," said the will, signed on December 1, 2010. There is no mention of her husband in Edwards' will, seen by some media and publis...

House Republicans challenge Obama on debt limit (AP)
WASHINGTON – In power scarcely a day, House Republicans bluntly told the White House on Thursday its request to raise the nation's $14.3 Trillion Debt Limit will require federal Spending Cuts to win their approval, laying down an early marker in a new era of divided government. Speaker John Boehner made the challenge as the new GOP majority voted to cut funding for House members' own offices and committee operations by $35 million. Rank and File Republicans described that vote as a mere ...

House Republicans challenge Obama on debt limit
(01-06) 15:20 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- In power scarcely a day, House Republicans bluntly told the White House on Thursday its request to raise the nation's $14.3 Trillion Debt Limit will require federal Spending Cuts to win their approval, laying down an early marker in a new era of divided government. Speaker John Boehner made the challenge as the new GOP majority voted to cut funding for House members' own offices and committee operations by $35 million. Rank and File Republicans described th...

Dems Pounce on Grimm Health Care Comments
New Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm had a pretty good first day on Capitol Hill yesterday, but Democrats are pouncing on his comments explaining why he feels he's not a hypocrite for taking his Congressional Health Care plan while fighting to Repeal Health Care refrom. “It’s clear that Rep. Michael Grimm is the worst kind of hypocrite – one who protects Health Care for himself instead of his constituents,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Je...

The 112th Congress might have to start all over again (The Ticket)
Here's something John Boehner might feel the need to cry about: Just two days into the 112th Congress, there's a chance that the House might have to do all of its voting — including the roll call to elect a new Speaker — all over again. Per Roll Call's Anna Palmer, House GOP leaders learned today that two of its members — Texas Rep. Pete Sessions and freshman Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania — weren't on the House floor yesterday during the official swearing-in ceremony. According

After Railing Against Government Spending, Speaker Boehner Cant Name One Program He Would Cut
Campaigning before the recent Midterm Elections, House Republicans were adamant that, if given power, they would cut Government Spending. However, when pressed for specifics, many were unable to list even one single item they would cut from the Budget. “The line-item will be across-the-board,” Rep. Kevin Mccarthy (R-CA) embarrassingly responded when asked for specific cuts. Speaker of the House John Boehner was no stranger to the promise to cut Government Spending. In fact, he prom...

Boehner to 'birthers': Obama is a citizen
Updated 4 minutes ago 1/6/2011 11:13:32 PM +00:00 New Republican House Speaker John Boehner tells NBC Nightly News he doesn't question President Barack Obama's place of birth but it's not within his purview to tell others what to think. First Thoughts: Now what? Asked to name a program that the U.S. could do without to save money, Boehner said he didn't have one "off the top of my head." "But there is no part of this government that should be sacred," the Ohio congressman said. "I belie...

Some suggested guidelines for political discourse in the New Year
Among his remarks in accepting the gavel yesterday, incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner said, “We can disagree without being disagreeable.”  Predictably, the blogosphere immediately erupted with criticism and ridicule.  On the Huffington Post and elsewhere, commentators chose to ignore this advice in favor of being disagreeable to a very high degree. This is nothing new, of course.  The anonymity of the Internet gives people the courage to say things they would ...