West admirers celebrate and warn against business as usual

Allen West Becomes First Republican to Join Black Caucus Since 1996
It seems like Tea Party favorite Allen West is going to try his best to bring the GOP and Black Caucus closer together after all. On Wednesday, the newly minted member of Congress became the first Republican member to join the Congressional Black Caucus since 1996. West joined South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott in being the first black Republicans to serve in Congress since 2003. The retired army army lieutenant colonel acknowledged that he’ll likely be at odds with most of the Caucus’s m...

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 ...

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...

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...

Congressional Black Caucus Sworn In Rep Allan West (R-The Real Deal) Steals The Show
Star power! (WaPo) — The ceremonial swearing-in of the Congressional Black Caucus Wednesday morning delivered another sign of the changing times in Capitol Hill: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s appearance was less electric to that of freshman black Republican Rep. Allen West. Indeed, Pelosi (D-Calif.), the Keynote Speaker, drew warm applause as she saluted the caucus’ incoming chairman, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), and sought to rouse her Troops for the forthcoming battle...

Bachmann intel post about politics?
The country has a new guardian for its National Security secrets: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN). The outspoken Minnesota congresswoman, and Tea Party favorite, has been tapped by House Speaker John Boehner for a coveted slot on the House Intelligence Committee, giving Bachmann a new role as overseer of the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the rest of the U.S. intelligence community, her office confirmed today. The move comes at a time when Bachmann is seeking to burnish her national securit...

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...

Speaker Boehner Dismisses CBOs Report Health Care Repeal Increases Deficit
ABC News’ John R. Parkinson reports:  Speaker of the House John Boehner dismissed a report by the Congressional Budget Office that found that repealing the Health Care law would increase the federal Deficit and warned that the “best Health Care system in the world is going to go down the drain” if Congress fails to Repeal the law. Earlier Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office released a preliminary analysis that the Repeal of the Health Care Reform law, including reduced spend

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 ...

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...

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 ...

Thursday's intriguing people
The freshman congressman and Iraq/Afghanistan War Veteran from Florida became the first Republican to join the liberal Congressional Black Caucus since 1997. Fellow Republican Tim Scott declined to join. "We need to bring those variant perspectives and voices to that body politic," he told NPR when asked about joining the caucus and African-American representation in politics. "You know, no one is really talking about an amazing story of this congressional cycle that you have 42 A...

Allen West sworn into the Congressional Black Caucus
By Sam Foster …What more can be said except that the Communist/Socialists that embody the CBC are in for a quite a ride in the 112th: The all-Democrat Congressional Black Caucus welcomed its first Republican member in 14 years on Wednesday, with the swearing-in of Representative Allen B. West of Florida. The newly elected congressman is the first Republican to join the black lawmakers' group since Representative Gary A. Franks of Connecticut left office...

Congressman Allen West Sworn In As Congressional Black Caucus Member
(Washington Examiner) — The liberal Congressional Black Caucus has sworn in its first Republican member in more than a decade, welcoming newly elected congressman Allen West of Florida at a ceremony Wednesday. West and Tim Scott of South Carolina were elected in November as the first black Republicans in Congress since former Rep. J.C. Watts left eight years ago. While Scott declined to join the caucus, West pushed for membership, saying he wants to try to steer the group away from what he...

Allen West First Interview After Being Sworn in To The Congressional Black Caucus
West talks to reporters foxnews New Florida Congressman Rep. Allen West was just sworn in to the Congressional Black Caucus Wednesday morning as its sole Republican member. Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the other new black Republican in the 112th Congress, chose not to join the historically Democratic group . There are 43 members in the CBC this year, and with Scott, 44 members in both the House and Senate. The Senate lost its last two black members when President Obama went to the White House and h...

Frederica Wilson takes oath sans hat, Allen West joins the Congressional Black Caucus
Frederica Wilson took to the floor of the House Wednesday in a dark suit trimmed in red sparkles -- but without its matching red-sequined hat. The Miami Democrat renown for her penchant for wearing hats took off the cowboy chapeau in deference to House rules. She's said she still wants to wear her hat on the House floor, but will wait to pursue the matter. She is, however, likely to wear the hat for today's ceremonial swearing-in -- that one isn't done on the House floor. But...

Black caucus swears in first GOP member in years
WASHINGTON (AP) - The liberal Congressional Black Caucus has sworn in its first Republican member in more than a decade, welcoming newly elected congressman Allen West of Florida at a ceremony Wednesday. West and Tim Scott of South Carolina were elected in November as the first black Republicans in Congress since former Rep. J.C. Watts left eight years ago. While Scott declined to join the caucus, West pushed for membership, saying he wants to try to steer the group away from what he calls faile...

West to appear on TV show critical of health care bill
U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-Plantation) will appear with two other Republican members of Congress -- Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Mike Pence of Indiana -- on the Jan. 9 Coral Ridge Hour TV program. The subject, according to a Press Release about the program: "the ill-effects of ObamaCare." Here is what West, who represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, says in the press release: “It is not so much about making [Health Care] accessible to Americans,” West points...

House Republicans Stage a Mighty Expensive Opening Scene
We can get used to a daily dose of hypocrisy from newly minted Speaker of the House John Boehner. Already, House Republicans have spent most of the new year hammering the two themes we can expect to hear constantly over the next two years—Fiscal Responsibility and reverence for the Constitution—while vowing laws that flout both principles. They’ve passed rules saying any spending bill must identify a matching Budget Cut, but have exempted their massively expensive (and purely t...

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...

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...

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. ...

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...

Conservative leader urges House to follow through on spending
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' recent wave of rookie conservative members. "Reduce the size of the government," he urged the new Congress. "It's big. It's obnoxious. It's counterproductive. Being in control of this monster that has been out of control, ...

GOP first order of business: strip D.C. residents of a vote
Any illusions of a non-partisan 112th Congress were wiped away yesterday with passage of new House rules. In a 225-188 vote along party lines, House Republicans made sweeping changes to how business will be conducted this year. Of particular interest to Taxpayers of Washington, D.C. should be the loss yesterday of representation in Congress. Being that the District of Columbia is not a state, it has never had a floor vote on the final passage of any Legislation. But like Puerto Rico, and the ter...