Speaker Boehner's first day of work liveblog

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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. ...

Anti-Pelosi Revolt
In spite of presiding over a smashing defeat for her Caucus in Midterm Elections, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to step aside as leader, laying claim to the Minority Leader position for the 112th Congress.  But in the process, a record number of Democratic defectors expressed dissatisfaction with Pelosi by voting for Democratic moderate Heath Shuler instead. The number of defectors was small, but significant.  What it shows is that Pelosi has work to do in unifying her own caucus....

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:...

Nancy Pelosi once again makes history
Via WaPo’s The Fix blog : 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 point since 1913, according to data from the Congressional Research Service. That year, which happens to be the last year fo...

GOP fundraises off specter of another term of 'Speaker Pelosi'
House Republicans' campaign arm sought on Thursday to raise money off of the possibility that Nancy Pelosi could become House Speaker again someday. In an email sent out to supporters, National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Executive Director Guy Harrison "urgently" warns readers about a comment Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) made on Wednesday. "The new Chairman of the DCCC, Rep. Steve Israel, has decided to take a page from the NRCC...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Congressional Hostages
One of the things new House Speaker John Boehner said he intended to do was to give up some of the power the majority holds in the House, to spread around some of the power he and his party holds. He didn't give out too many details, but the general idea was to make the House a bit less of a pure Democracy, and more of a republic -- majority rule, but recognition of the rights of the minority. Kind of like the Senate, in a sense, where a simple majority isn't enough to do much, but needs a sup...

Democrat to challenge Rep. McIntyre from the left
A North Carolina Democratic Activist is set to challenge Rep. Mike Mcintyre (D-N.C.) from the left in 2012. Citing McIntyre's Centrist voting record and opposition to the healthcare law, Democrat Del Pietro announced the primary challenge Wednesday.  "Democrats are just furious with McIntyre and I really think this is going to be his last term," said Pietro, who accused McIntyre of abandoning the core principles of his party. "A lot of Democrats in this state are furious with the Blue Dogs in...

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...

Republicans take control of the House
The results of the mid-term election became a reality for Democrats yesterday as Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, and more than 90 new members were seated. John Boehner (R-OH) defeated Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in the election for Speaker. In fact, 19 members of her own Caucus voted for someone else (11 voted for Heath Shuler), voted present or did not vote at all; the most members of a Caucus to vote against their party’s nominee since 1923. The power exchange wasn̵...

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 ...

Barney Frank: This GOP House Worse Than in 1994
Openly gay Rep. Barney Frank is known for his smarts, his biting humor and his hard work as chair of the House Financial Services Committee.  However, he told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, he’ll be working less on that important committee with the Republican takeover of the House.  Olbermann asked Frank what he thought of the new House Republicans, since he “survived” the “Republican revolution” lead by Newt Gingrich in 1993. “It’s going to be...

Constitution read aloud in House despite birther and Democrats objections
As promised, the Constitution of the United States - that really old document some find confusing or Racist - was read aloud on the floor of the House of Representatives, despite interruptions by a Heckler and Democrats trying to score cheap political points. Fox News reports that Washington Congressman Jay Inslee (D), asked if the original Constitution would be read, or the document as it current stands as amended. Showing the rust of Republicans not having presided over the House Chamber for t...

Pelosi's Final Debt Tab: $5.3 Trillion Added During Speakership -- $3.67 Billion/Day...
(CNSNews.com) - In the 1,461 days that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) served as speaker of the House, 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 numbers published by the U.S. Treasury. Pelosi was the 52nd speaker of the House. During her tenure, she amassed more Debt than the first 49 speakers combined. The total National Debt did not climb above $5.343 Trillion (the amount amassed duri...

Steny Hoyer, family psychologist
**Posted by Phineas I’m getting so confused. You see, I thought I and others like me opposed ObamaCare and other liberal-fascist Democratic programs because we believe strongly in Limited Government that operates within the bounds of the Constitution and that those same programs were actually harmful to the nation. In other words, we were acting in good faith and on principle. Silly me. Since the (Social) Democratic Party was given free reign with the election of President Obama, we’...

The Onion: Harry Reid Sleeping with Mitch McConnell's Wife in 1986 at Core of Senate Gridlock
The Onion drills down and uncovers the true reason that the U.S. Senate can't get anything done… In a stunning disclosure this week, congressional sources revealed that the acrimonious gridlock in the U.S. Senate traces its origins to a single November evening in 1986, when Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) engaged in Sexual Intercourse with Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) then-wife, Sherrill. "The impenetrable stalemate on crucial issues is not due to a widening ideological divide bet...

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...