Democrats rain on climate change bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) won't be happy about this: her climate change bill is meeting resistance from her own party, with House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) leading the charge. Apparently there's some internal party conflict brewing between Peterson's camp and that of House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA).

Pelosi refuses to meet with Republicans

According to Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) hasn't accepted any of his meeting requests.

This is the type of Democratic leadership in place? Bipartisanship is nothing but an empty promise coming from Democrats.

Specter masters art of rear-kissing

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) is a true politician. After switching to the Democrat Party a few weeks ago, he now kisses up to one of his many bosses, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), by defending her in the whole lied-by-CIA brouhaha:

"The current controversy involving Speaker Pelosi and the CIA is very unfortunate, in my opinion, because it politicizes the issue and it takes away attention from ... how does the Congress get accurate information from the CIA? For political gain, people are making headlines."

Nicely done, sir. Now find a towel to wipe that brown nose.

Others, like former Speaker Newt Gingrich, is calling for her resignation on "Good Morning America":

"She really disqualified herself to be the speaker. She has a unique responsibility for national security. ... She made this allegation that smears everyone who's trying to defend her."

Gingrich has a valid point. If she is playing politics about this matter, slinging mud at the CIA, and lying to the American people, then she should do the right thing and resign. Otherwise, she ought to come out with evidence to support her allegations.

Sham bill: D.C. House Voting Rights Act

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is sponsoring this bill, along with a bunch of other Democratic Senators and a couple of RINOs, to give the people of Washington, D.C. a House representative because their voices need to be heard blah-blah-blah...

Never mind that Article I Section 2 of the Constitution clearly states that only states can have members in the House:

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

D.C. is not a state. D.C. does not have a state legislature. So why are Congressmen sponsoring such a bill which blatantly violates the Supreme Law of the Land? I mean, how can this even be constitutional if passed?

Tedisco leads for now

Some good news in the NY-20 special election as Jim Tedisco (R) takes a razor-thin lead of just 12 votes!

Keeping score at the White House

President Obama to Rep. Peter DeFazio: "Don't think we're not keeping score, brother."

It's a subtle warning to the Congressman about his vote against the stimulus bill, and a reminder that this White House keeps tabs on such breaks with the administration.

Will this turn off some Democratic House and Senate members? When Obama was elected, both House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) spoke out publicly that they do not work for the President, so I wonder if they are keeping score on the White House, too?

Congressman introduces bill to fund underprivileged bankers and realtors

Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) plans on April 1 to introduce legislation to further boost the economy and assist the unemployed, especially those in the middle class who work in the financial and housing sectors. His Funding Underprivileged Bankers And Realtors (FUBAR) Act of 2009 would require troubled bankers and realtors to turn over a majority of their assets to the government in exchange for amnesty from any federal investigation and wrongdoing. Plus the bill promises not to conduct embarrassing public hearings of those who opt for FUBAR, even those who have owed back taxes and wouldn't pay for a decent CPA to file tax returns.

The bill is already meeting resistance from House Republicans, but Democrats are confident that they have enough votes to pass it because, well, they have the majority. President Obama has voiced his support of FUBAR, jokingly citing that he's honored to have part of his first name in this bill, as he slowly turns away from the big screen TV to take more questions at a joint press conference with Rep. Frank.

Conservatives, keep up the good fight (but also keep a sense of humor)! We must defeat this bill. Call your Congressman today (April 1st) -- America must say No to FUBAR before it's too late...

GOP distancing from Gov. Palin?

Should some staff members of Gov. Palin's office be fired? Or is there a deeper meaning in all of this? The annual Senate-House GOP dinner to be held in June now turns to Newt Gingrich as its keynote speaker instead of the Alaskan governor.

Hopefully this is just an amateurish mistake made between her PAC and her staff in the governor's office. The GOP should not distance itself from the former V.P. nominee. She still has star power and a loyal following among conservatives.

NY-20 race too close to call

The result of the first election after Obama's inauguration is still undetermined. Murphy (D) leads Tedisco (R) by just a handful of votes and now thousands of absentee ballots will come into play. This special election in the blue state of New York is viewed by many to be a gauge on the popularity of the President and his economic policies. Republicans are hoping to see an early victory before the mid-term elections come up.

Jim Tedisco FTW!

Pelosi the real un-American

Enforcing existing immigration laws is un-American? That's what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a group of both legal and illegal immigrants and their families:

"Who in this country would not want to change a policy of kicking in doors in the middle of the night and sending a parent away from their families? It must be stopped....What value system is that? I think it's un-American. I think it's un-American."

She's a career politician who's risen to the top as the historic first female House Speaker. She ought to know that being American means living within the rule of law on American soil. For those legal immigrants she spoke to, what will they think? Legal immigrants have to fight through the bureaucracy, paperwork, fees, and wait years just to become a U.S. citizen. Nobody enjoys that process, but it's the path that must be taken if you truly want to be eligible to carry a U.S. passport and participate in America's elections.

Illegal immigrants are un-Americans. Does Pelosi want to be labeled that way too with her careless remarks?

House Democrats on new spending spree

Here we go again... Hot on the heels of the $787 billion stimulus package, House Democrats are now proposing a $410 billion spending bill to "keep the government running."

More like to keep the government running up in debt.

I have an idea. How about let's just stop the government from running for a few months to see how things go? We may actually be better off that way.

House passes stimulus without GOP support again

The House passes the final stimulus bill, and again without the support of Republicans as well as seven Democrats. Now the bill moves to the Senate, and that's where things could get more interesting as Democrats hold a majority but still need a few Republicans' support in order to pass the bill.

Jim Tedisco poised to enter House

New York Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R) is leading in the polls against opponent Scott Murphy (D) to fill the House seat vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand. Although this doesn't affect much of the House politics, it's still a small victory for Republicans. The election is set for March 31.

For more information and to contribute to his campaign, click here.

Lean, mean, talented Obama?

President Obama demands passage of the stimulus package. Now he's on the offensive, pointing fingers at Republicans for the "same old distractions." The leftosphere (the left-leaning blogosphere) is falling in love with Obama all over again because of his partisanship:

I will note that compared with the solid but lacking passion speech that the President gave earlier in the day at the Department of Energy, this speech truly demonstrated the enormous talents of the President. This was the Obama that spoke from the heart, not the cool, calm, collected one we often see and hear. This speech had cadence, it had fire in the belly, it had soul. He spoke to me as an American and as a Democrat. This is the real deal. This is how politics is played. To win by getting things accomplished.

Oh, please: the "enormous talents" of the President?! Since January 20, I haven't really seen much talent from the President except his ability to deliver speeches (but we'd already known that since the campaign).

Does he have a talent for party leadership? Not from what we've seen with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, marching to the beat of her own tune in the House, completely ignoring Obama's message of bipartisanship.

Does he have a talent for reaching across the aisle? Certainly, but the failure of his negotiation skills was exposed when the House Republican members stood united to oppose the stimulus package.

Does he have a talent for picking good cabinet nominees? Look at what happened to Bill Richardson, Timothy Geithner, Tom Daschle, Hilda Solis, and possibly more candidates.

The honeymoon is definitely over.

Economy, preprare to be stimulated... or not

The bad news? The House passed the nearly $900 billion stimulus package.

The good news? Not one Republican voted for it. That ought to send a clear message.

Conservative talk show master Rush Limbaugh offers his version in the WSJ:

Fifty-three percent of American voters voted for Barack Obama; 46% voted for John McCain, and 1% voted for wackos. Give that 1% to President Obama. Let's say the vote was 54% to 46%. As a way to bring the country together and at the same time determine the most effective way to deal with recessions, under the Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan of 2009: 54% of the $900 billion -- $486 billion -- will be spent on infrastructure and pork as defined by Mr. Obama and the Democrats; 46% -- $414 billion -- will be directed toward tax cuts, as determined by me.

"Then," he writes, "we compare." Sounds fair to me! After all, it is my money which Obama wants to spend. Shouldn't I have some say-so in how it's used?

House Republicans to vote Nay on stimulus

House Minority Leader John Boehner urges his GOP colleagues to oppose the stimulus bill as it comes to the floor for a vote on Wednesday. This comes even as President Obama took time to meet congressional Republicans to win their support on the $825 billion package.

It's a good sign. The Republicans in Washington are finally fitted with a backbone.

House Democrats discuss confiscating retirement accounts

The Democrats' election victories have emboldened them. House Democrats now want their hands even deeper, and I mean deeper, into your pockets. The have been holding talks on handing your private retirement accounts -- 401(k)s and IRAs -- to the management of the Social Security Administration.

As crazy as this sounds, what's their excuse?

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, in prepared remarks for the hearing on “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Workers’ Retirement Security,” blamed Wall Street for the financial crisis and said his committee will “strengthen and protect Americans’ 401(k)s, pensions, and other retirement plans” and the “Democratic Congress will continue to conduct this much-needed oversight on behalf of the American people.”

Yes, of course they blame the economy. Because of the economic downturn, these retirement accounts are threatened, and therefore it is the government's job to protect them by confiscating them!

No, thank you. I'd like my retirement accounts where they are right now, managed by the private financial institutions. The government can get my tax dollars, but they better not touch my hard-earned retirement savings.

Remember, folks: what the government gives, they government can take it away. Think twice about nationalized health care, nationalized banking, nationalized oil production, etc.

Moderate House Democrats want leadership roles

It's not just the Republicans and conservatives who are worried about the gains liberal Democrats made in Congress. Moderate, or Blue Dog, Democrats are vying for committee leadership positions in a Pelosi-run House. They warn that if their voice is not respected, then there will be seats to lose in 2010.

What will Pelosi do? I think she's drunk with power and will ignore the Blue Dogs. Like many in the Democrat leadership, she sees her party's seat gains as a mandate to stride towards the left, quickly. If she's smart she'll heed to the moderate voices in the House. After all, there is another election in two years...