Pelosi Olive Branch Is Already Dead

What park did Boehner hit that ball out of?
Yesterday we took note of Ezra Klein's praise for John Boehner's politically brilliant Speech as new House Speaker.  This morning EJ Dionne offers hard reality or -- more to the point -- hard unreality.  In short, if Boehner hit the ball out of the park yesterday, the park you saw on your TV monitor was a virtual park, not a real ball park with real people in the stands, damp turf, blanketed by the smell of fries and dogs. Not even the ball was real.  How many of us n...

Speaker Boehner readies repeal of 'Obamacare' as HHS details impact on Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio (CGE) - Newly elected speaker of the U.S House John A. Boehner, the third Ohioan to hold this key Constitutional office, repeatedly railed against the Affordable Care Act on the Campaign Trail as a job-killer, and vowed Republicans would make Repeal of it job one if they were to win enough seats to take back the people's chamber from Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi, who prior to handing an over-sized gavel to her successor touted it as one of her party's most important achievements...

Behar and Huffington Posts Sekoff Paint GOP as Trying to Ruin and Destroy Health Care
On Wednesday’s Joy Behar Show on HLN, when host Behar asked, referring to House Republicans, "Are they going to ruin Health Care?" guest Roy Sekoff - founding editor of the Huffington Post - referred to a Repeal of ObamaCare as "destroy[ing] health care." Moments later, he also claimed that ObamaCare "will actually lower the Debt," and accused Republicans of being hypocritical for wanting to Repeal it: JOY BEHAR: Let’s talk about what they’re going...

Nancy Pelosi's future will be different from her past
Dana Milbank ponders the demotion of Speaker Pelosi and posits that she is better in the opposition.But there was a genuine reason for Pelosi to smile as she surrendered the gavel: She was returning to a job that suits her better. As speaker, her record was mixed. She had many major legislative achievements, particularly in the past two years, but she also led her Caucus off an electoral cliff, in part because she forced members to take damaging votes on policies that didn't have a chance of pas...

Cruising the Web
If you need a smile today, watch this video of a two-year old reciting what she knows about presidential history. David Brooks notes that the Democrats have been an epic failure at persuading the American People that a large, intrusive government can act nimbly to solve the nation's problems. Unintended Consequences rise up again. Megan McArdle points to new regulations for Credit Cards that would make it harder for stay-at-home wives or spouses earning substantially less than their spouses to g...

Behar and Huffington Posts Sekoff Paint GOP as Trying to Ruin and Destroy Health Care
On Wednesday’s Joy Behar Show on HLN, when host Behar asked, referring to House Republicans, "Are they going to ruin Health Care?" guest Roy Sekoff - founding editor of the Huffington Post - referred to a Repeal of ObamaCare as "destroy[ing] health care." Moments later, he also claimed that ObamaCare "will actually lower the Debt," and accused Republicans of being hypocritical for wanting to Repeal it: JOY BEHAR: Let’s talk about what they’re going...

God Bless You Speaker Boehner
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivering her seemingly never-ending exit Speech as she prepared to hand the gavel over to new House Speaker John Boehner. Pelosi seemed to use her remarks to boast about what she considered her accomplishments, sounding much more like a campaign Speech than a graceful stepping aside. Eventually, she got around to John Boehner, praising him as a “skilled legislator” and a servant of the people, and then handed him the gavel as Speaker of the House. There was vis...

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...

Pelosi Tells Democrats Their First Test Is Defending ObamaCare
Larry7 (prev. just Larry) on Poll: Only 22% Have a Favorable View Candidates Who Are Described as “Progressive,” Jumps to 42% for “Conservative”… (The Hill) — House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said her party’s “first test” would be to defend its work of the last two years, particularly Healthcare Reform. Pelosi, the former Speaker who was elected Wednesday as Democrats’ Minority Leader in the next Congress, sought $100,000...

A modest speaker not to be underestimated
The new speaker of the House, Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, isn't the most brilliant statesman ever to hold the job ( Newt Gingrich beats him on that count), the most groundbreaking (that was Nancy Pelosi) or the most charismatic (speakers rarely score high on that scale). But he is among the most modest, an attribute rare among politicians — and one that should come in handy in the rough-and-tumble period of divided government that lies ahead. Ever since Boehner's Republicans won their ma...

Boehner in tears as 112th Congress convenes
The 112th Congress convened on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday at noon with the new Speaker of the House John Boehner in tears as he accepted the gavel from the outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The composition of the House of Representatives and the Senate is significantly different in the 112th Congress as compared to the previous Congress.  First of all, Republicans have a majority in the House with 242 members to 193 Democrats.  This means that Representative Boehner, a Republ...

NBC News Anchor: Republicans are Bastards Who Want to Destroy the American Dream
You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought, expression, and worship. Read more... We invite all Americans who share these values to join us here at Fox Nation. Nancy Pelosi passes on the symbolic gavel as John Boehner becomes the 61st Speaker of the House. ewerickson: @donnabrazile gladly. There aren't any 'benefits' to ObamaCare. If there were, the reg...

The New Mr. Speaker Warns of "Tough Decisions"
New House Speaker John Boehner said “hard work and tough decisions” await the 112th Congress, which began today when outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi handed over a very large gavel (selected by Boehner) to the Ohio Republican. “Nearly one in 10 of our neighbors are looking for work,” Boehner said. “Health Care costs are rising for families and small businesses. Our spending has caught up with us, and our Debt will soon eclipse the size of our entire economy.” This Congress

John Boehner sets humble tone as he claims House gavel
The clerk called his name twice to vote for speaker, but John Boehner wasn't on the House floor. He didn't have to be, of course. Once the tally was announced, the Republican from Ohio emerged, now officially speaker of the House. He looked up at his wife, two daughters and 10 of his 11 siblings in the gallery above. They were crying, and so was he. 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...

Ezra Klein: A very smart speech by Speaker Boehner
If you spent the afternoon watching C-SPAN, as I did, you heard applause. A lot of it. Over and over again. And when John Boehner took the podium to be sworn in as Speaker of the House of Representatives, it swelled back up, and stayed there. No one Republican member of Congress wants to be the first to stop applauding the new speaker. Luckily, Boehner did it for them. "It's still just me," he said with a smile. Traditionally, politicians overpromise in these moments. If you look b...

Oops: Obama Rented an Illegal House During Hawaii Vacation
President Barack Obama's two-week stay at his Hawaii Winter White House was illegal under a long-standing Honolulu ban on short-term rentals. Obama did not break the law by staying at the house, but the property owner who rented his house to the Obamas does not have the permit that would allow a stay of fewer than 30 days. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedo...

The New Congress: ‘A voice at the table’
WASHINGTON — - South Carolina’s four new Republican congressmen took their oaths of office Wednesday and pledged to move quickly to slash federal spending, cut the Deficit and reduce the size of government. With more House freshmen than any other state save Florida and New York, the South Carolina congressional delegation took on a new look after the defeats of Incumbent Reps. John Spratt, a York Democrat, and Bob Inglis, a Travelers Rest Republican. Hundreds of friends and relati...

Boehner elected House speaker as 112th Congress convenes
Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), taking the gavel Wednesday as the new speaker of the House, promised to work for Fiscal Responsibility while offering "openness" to the chamber's Democratic minority. 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 is 'game day' Ezra Klein: ...

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...

House Speaker John Boehner casts himself as a political throwback
The past 16 years in Congress have been typified by Partisanship and procedural stunts. New House Speaker John Boehner promises to return the House to a time when members can 'disagree without being disagreeable.' He will be put to the test, and soon. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio holds the gavel after receiving it from outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Califorina during the first session of the 112th Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday. Wielding an outsize gavel, Speaker...

Pilot charged with drunken flying
KAUFMAN, Texas, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Authorities in Texas said a man who landed his small plane on a roadway was arrested on suspicion of flying while intoxicated. The Kaufman County Sheriff's Department said John Roy Petre, 38, landed his kit-built 1960 Baby Ace plane on FM429 and taxied the vehicle to a nearby home, The Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday. The plane was described as an open cockpit, single-wing plane with only one seat. NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Elizabeth Edwards, the late wife...

Tea Party Rep. Reflects On The Big Day: 'We've Crossed The Rubicon'
Freshman Rep. Alan West (R-FL) stood in the Speaker's Lobby after John Boehner took over this afternoon and reflected on an election season that saw the Tea Party -- of which West is one of the most colorful elected members -- ascend to the halls of power in Washington. It's been a long road for Conservatives like West, and he told me that to sit in the room and watch Speaker Nancy Pelosi's reign come to an end was pretty darn great. "We've crossed the Rubicon," he said, flashing a huge grin. ...

The new leadership
HOUSE MAJORITY The speaker: John Boehner, R-Ohio, is second in line for the presidency, behind the vice president. His most important daily roles will be setting the floor agenda, keeping parliamentary order, and appointing lawmakers to committee and subcommittee chairmanships, as well as to conference committees that craft final Legislation. The Majority Leader: Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., will have responsibilities that include daily, weekly, and monthly House floor scheduling; urging the rank a...

Something historic this way comes....
Something Historic this way comes, San Antonio. While it could be great, there are those out there who believe it could also be useless. Please refer to this article, to get all the details as to who will be doing this. A new set of swearing in(s) took place today, January 5, 2011, on Capital Hill at the House of Representatives. The Lame Duck is now over and the new elected officials from November 2, 2010, have all been sworn into their new positions. John Boehner is now Speaker of th...

Obama foes target office expenses for cuts (AFP)
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Republicans, the new rulers in the House of Representatives, move Thursday to make good on a campaign vow to slash spending with a mostly symbolic vote to cut lawmakers' office budgets. President Barack Obama's Democrats were expected to join Republicans to pass a bill to slice five percent from House expenses, a 35-million-dollar drop in the roughly 3.6-trillion-dollar bucket of annual US government outlays. Republicans also planned to read aloud from the U...