Politics Daily

Republican Sen. Scott Brown: GOP's Planned Parenthood Cut 'Goes Too Far'

Politics Daily Staff — 2011-03-22T15:44:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, House, Democrats, Republicans, Abortion, Congress

Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts has broken ranks with his party over an effort to defund Planned Parenthood, saying the move "goes too far."

"I support family planning and health services for women. Given our severe budget problems, I don't believe any area of the budget is completely immune from cuts," Brown said in a statement Tuesday.

"However, the proposal to eliminate all funding for family planning goes too far. As we continue with our budget negotiations, I hope we can find a compromise that is reasonable and appropriate."

Obama Getting Heat From Left and Right for U.S. Role in Libyan Attacks

Politics Daily Staff — 2011-03-22T09:32:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Republicans, Terror, Obama Administration, National Security, Congress, Conservatives, Liberals, Moderates, United Kingdom, France, Military, Barack Obama

President Obama is getting blowback from both sides of the aisle for taking military action in Libya without first formally consulting Congress. Debate in Washington heated up even before reports Tuesday that a U.S. warplane, patrolling Libyan air space, had crashed.

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), a conservative member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Obama's "unilateral choice" to join a U.N.-backed coalition establishing a no-fly zone "is an affront to our Constitution," The Hill newspaper reported. The United States, Bartlett said, "does not have a king's army."

Meanwhile, a CBS News poll shows a full 50 percent of Americans approve of the president's handling of Libya.

Since the intervention started Saturday, U.S. Navy warships have launched Tomahawk missiles at Libyan air defenses, while American warplanes have joined other coalition aircraft in attacking military installations and some Libyan ground troops.

A U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed late Monday near Benghazi, but its two crew members ejected and were rescued, the Washington Post and NPR said. Military officials said the plane apparently malfunctioned and was not shot down.

In the Senate, Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee and a White House ally on some issues, said Congress should have a full debate on the objectives and costs of the U.S. role in the attacks. And Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, a moderate, said, "This isn't the way the system is supposed to work."

But earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned pro-intervention lawmakers that setting up a no-fly zone was a major undertaking that would have to begin with attacks on Moammar Gadhafi's anti-aircraft systems.

Traveling with the president in Santiago, Chile on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney insisted Obama had consulted personally with congressional leaders on the Libyan situation. And last Saturday, Carney said Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough phoned top lawmakers "to inform them of the imminent action" about to happen. "We take very seriously the need to consult with Congress and we have been doing that," Carney said.

Under the Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war. But the president, as commander in chief of the armed forces, has authority to take military action in emergencies or in the face of threats to national security. Obama, who was winding up a Latin American trip Tuesday, insists no U.S. ground troops will be deployed and that leadership of the intervention effort will soon be turned over to NATO partners such as Great Britain or France.

For Rep. Dennis Kucinich, that's not enough to justify what the U.S. has done in Libya. The liberal lawmaker called it "an act of war" and said Congress should be called back from a spring recess to decide whether to continue the military action.

On the website Raw Story, Kucinich (D-Ohio) went further, calling Obama's move in Libya "an impeachable offense." The president "didn't have congressional authorization; he has gone against the Constitution, and that's got to be said," Kucinich maintained.

Kucinich noted that then-Sen. Obama argued in 2007 that "the president does not have the power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."

Kucinich, who has twice run for president as an anti-war candidate, said he was not actually proposing impeachment proceedings but only "raising the question" as to whether grounds exist. In any event, calls for a president's impeachment -- often coming from the far left or the far right on Capitol Hill -- are not unusual. Kucinich himself sought to initiate an impeachment article against President George W. Bush in 2008, but then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi wouldn't go along with it.

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House Votes to Cut Federal Funding for National Public Radio

Politics Daily Staff — 2011-03-17T16:51:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Republicans, Media, Congress

As expected, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted Thursday to ban federal money for National Public Radio, but the bill might not be taken up by the Senate and faces opposition from the Obama administration.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), also would prevent member stations from using taxpayer dollars to pay dues to NPR or acquire programming from it. Stations could still use federal money for administrative expenses associated with day-to-day operations.

The bill passed 228 to 192 in a largely party-line vote.

Stopgap Spending Bill Approved by Senate

Politics Daily Staff — 2011-03-17T15:56:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, House, Democrats, Republicans, Congress, White House

The Senate on Thursday approved another stopgap spending bill that cuts $6 billion more from the federal budget and keeps the government running until at least April 8, the Washington Post reports.

The bill passed 87 to 13. The House has already approved the legislation, so it now goes to President Obama, who is expected to sign it.

The bill would give House and Senate negotiators breathing room to try to hammer out a longer-term spending plan for the rest of the fiscal year.

An earlier stopgap bill passed in early March trimmed $4 billion in federal spending

The $10 billion in cuts so far are far short of the $61 billion the GOP-controlled House agreed to trim from the federal budget for the rest of the fiscal year. But the Democratically controlled Senate rejected the larger House bill, and the impasse over the budget has forced Congress to consider short-term measures until a compromise can be reached.

Following Thursday's vote, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said the modest trims would amount to $140 billion in savings over the next decade -- "All in all, a good day's work."

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House to Consider Bill to Defund National Public Radio

Politics Daily Staff — 2011-03-16T21:38:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Republicans, Media

The House is set to take up a measure that would eliminate federal funding for National Public Radio, which has been tarnished recently by bad publicity and resignations.

The bill by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) was considered by the House Rules Committee Wednesday.

The Hill wesbsite quoted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-Va.) office as saying the GOP-controlled chamber would vote on the Lamborn bill on Thursday.

"This is an exciting and significant step forward in the ongoing effort to protect taxpayer dollars from supporting programs that are fully capable of standing on their own. Taxpayers should not be on the hook for something that is widely available in the private market," Lamborn said in a statement.

"I wish only the best for NPR. Like many Americans, I enjoy much of their programming. I believe that they can survive, even thrive, in the free market without the crutch of government subsidies."

Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York, the top Democrat on the rules committee, criticized the effort to push the measure through Congress without hearings, USA Today reported.

"NPR plays a valuable role in providing millions of Americans with in-depth reporting and is often the only source of reliable news in rural parts of the country," she said. "It is under attack in the name of fiscal responsibility."

Lamborn said his bill would cut all federal money to NPR, but NPR affiliate stations could still use federal dollars for administrative expenses associated with day-to-day operations.

The latest move follows the release of a secretly taped video by a conservative activist purportedly showing former NPR fundraising executive Ron Schiller criticizing Republicans and tea party activists during a meeting with phony Muslim donors. However, analysts who examined the full version of the video suggested the editing was misleading and left out important context for the controversial remarks.

Ron Schiller had already announced he was leaving NPR for another job when the video surfaced last week. His departure was accelerated. Then NPR's president and chief executive, Vivian Schiller (no relation), resigned abruptly.

Earlier, the House passed a massive budget-cutting bill that, among other things, would rescind all federal funding this year for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which helps support NPR. The Senate rejected that measure. On Tuesday, a stopgap spending bill passed by the House to keep the government operating for three more weeks contains $50 million in cuts to the CPB. It is now before the Senate.

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Sen. Rand Paul Heading to Key Presidential Contest States

Politics Daily Staff — 2011-03-16T09:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, House, Republicans, 2012 President, Congress, Conservatives, Tea Party

A father and son running for president at the same time? It seems highly unlikely, but Rep. Ron Paul says the odds are 50-50 that he will again seek the Republican presidential nomination, and his son, Sen. Rand Paul, has trips planned soon to South Carolina and Iowa -- two of the states where the 2012 race will begin.

Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is headed to Charleston, S.C., Monday for an off-the-record meeting of influential conservatives, CNN reported. He is slated for a return trip to the state to promote his new book, "The Tea Party Goes to Washington," and he has a speaking engagement at a GOP dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 2.

The first-term senator, who shares his dad's libertarian leanings, has made an impression with his uncompromising stands on spending issues. But he probably wouldn't even flirt with the notion of running nationally unless his dad decides to take a pass on 2012. Even so, when a senator starts spending time in states like Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire in the months preceding an election year, his travel schedule gets the attention of the political press.

Ron Paul (R-Texas) ran for president in 2008, winning 16 delegates and a strong following drawn to his fiscal conservatism and opposition to the war in Iraq. In 1988, he ran nationally as the candidate of the Libertarian Party, getting 430,000 votes nationwide.

Two father-and-son combos have served in the White House -- John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush -- but none competed against each other.

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Houses Passes Another Stopgap Spending Bill

Politics Daily Staff — 2011-03-15T16:38:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Republicans, Congress

The House approved another short-term spending bill Tuesday afternoon, a step in keeping the government open beyond Friday but drawing complaints from some members who want a permanent fix.

The measure passed 271 to 158, with 54 GOP members opposing it, according to news reports. It would keep the federal government running through April 8 while House and Senate negotiators try to hammer out a longer-term spending plan for the rest of the fiscal year. The measure now goes to the Senate for a vote.

An earlier stopgap bill passed in early March trimmed $4 billion in federal spending and provided money to keep federal agencies operating through March 18.

The new continuing resolution cuts some $6 billion, still far short of the $61 billion the GOP-controlled House agreed to trim from the federal budget for the rest of the year. But the Democratically controlled Senate rejected the larger House bill, and the impasse over the budget has forced Congress to consider short-term measures until a compromise can be reached.

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The Gridiron Club's 2011 Political/Media Roast and Toast Lyrics

Annie Groer — 2011-03-13T11:43:00+00:00

Filed under: George W. Bush, Senate, House, Democrats, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Dick Cheney, Nancy Pelosi, Ron Paul, Humor, Media, Bill Clinton, Governors, Congress, Conservatives, Harry Reid, Republic of Dish, Barack Obama, John Boehner, TSA Screening, 2012 Elections, Egypt Crisis

Once again, you won't see this costumed spoof on C-SPAN or YouTube, unless someone among the record 633 invited guests at Saturday night's 126th annual Gridiron Dinner surreptitiously captures the singing, dancing and wise-cracking and posts it online.

Of course there's always a chance an adroit cellphone or camera-toting guest will violate club rules, either at the dinner or at Sunday's matinee reprise show, thus busting an image-less tradition in place since 1885.

Say what you will about the irony or hypocrisy of a group of journalists barring media cameras from broadcasting the onstage antics (C-SPAN has been asking to do just that for a quarter century). Only the speeches by President Obama, Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana (cracking jokes for the Republicans) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius (doing stand-up for the Dems) will be on the written record, although many more details will likely leak out.

In a nod to the times, tweeting, Facebooking and other instant communication about all aspects of the dinner were embargoed until it ended.

So in the interest of semi-transparency, herewith the lyrics from every parody performed
this weekend by nearly 100 journalists and a handful of vocally-blessed ringers with truly great voices.

Don't Stop Believin' (Journey/Glee)

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADERS singing about Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Obama

DEM CHEERLEADER 1

He came from Ha-wai-i, with hope, change and audacity.
Now two years later and he is on the run.

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADER 2

In a designer blouse, not long ago she ruled the House. She lost her power, and it's just no damn fun.

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADER 1

He calls her on the telephone.

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADER 2

Says Nancy, are you all alone?

BOTH

For a moment, they both shut their eyes, and dream on and on and on and on.
What if midterms, had turned out very differently?

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADER 1

What if red states had turned blue?

CHEERLEADER 1

What if we could, cap and trade and then we'd save the whales.

CHEERLEADER 2

Health care for all,

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADER 2

Dental too!

BOTH

Don't stop, believin'.

REPUBLICAN CHEERLEADERS 1& 2

Who are you deceivin'?

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADER 1

We're cooked.

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADER 2

We're through.

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADERS 1 & 2

Whoa oh oh!
Don't stop believin'.

REPUBLICAN CHEERLEADERS 1& 2

Dudes, you must be dreamin'.

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADER 1

Farewell.

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADER 2

Aloha.

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADERS 1 & 2

Whoa oh -oh!

CHORUS

Don't stop!

LIVIN' ON A PRAYER (Bon Jovi/Glee)

REPUBLICAN CHEERLEADER 1

Boehner used to work in a bar.
Palin hunts for moose, they're not very far.
Like Russia, they're in her yard.

REPUBLICAN CHEERLEADER 2

Bachmann would repeal this whole room.
Newt is back for more, O'Donnell might fly in soon, On her broom.

REPUBLICAN CHEERLEADER 1 & 2

Now, that we're run by the Tea Party
Let's fire all the unions, make them work for free.
With God and money we rule the House for now,
Just don't ask us how.

REPUBLICAN CHEERLEADER 1

Are we screwed next year?

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADERS 1 & 2

Hell yeah! You haven't got a prayer.

REPUBLICAN CHEERLEADER 2

Senate seemed to be so near.

DEMOCRATIC CHEERLEADERS 1 & 2

No way, you haven't got a prayer.

CHORUS

Haven't got a prayer!

TIME WARP (Rocky Horror Show/Glee)

SPEAKER

And now the part, where we sing 'bout ourselves.
I apologize, boss, if this causes any stress.
But fair is fair, and no one is exempt here,
So now it's time, to poke fun at the press.

PRESS CHEERLEADER 1

I remember, when newspapers were dying
Network ratings in the dumps, it surely looked like the end.
The furloughs were appalling, but then Bloomberg started calling.
We're back in business again.

CHORUS

We're back in business again.

PRESS CHEERLEADER 2

There's Arianna on the left.

PRESS CHEERLEADER 1

Glenn Beck's on the right.

PRESS CHEERLEADER 2

Juan Williams works for Fox now.

PRESS CHEERLEADER 1 NPR?

Not so bright.

PRESS CHEERLEADER 2

Is that Jul-i-an Assange there?

PRESS CHEERLEADER 1

No, he's not that insane.

BOTH

But thanks, Jules, your leaks were our gain.

CHORUS

We're back in business again.

REPORTER

I took a flogging, before I started blogging,
Each morning I write tweets, then switch to video.
I like to write at Starbucks, it's like the newsroom 'cept it don't suck,
Maybe I'll go to work at Patch, and cover 'burbs in Kokomo.
Politico sent out a news alert, in just one hour it's the thirty-third.
The cycle never stops, 24-7 in the know.
Enrollment's up in J-school. We're the cool kids but not that cool.

DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICANS CHEERLEADERS AND REPORTER

So welcome to Gridiron, my friends.

CHORUS

Welcome to Gridiron, again.
Wel-come to Grid-iron, a-gain.

KNOCK AROUND BARACK (Rock Around the Clock, Bill Haley)

Cast portraying Republican Reps. Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, Paul Ryan, Darrell Issa

CANTOR

House went up 63, thanks a lot Barack
Six more seats in the Senate, thanks a lot Barack
Boehner's now the Speaker, and the Dem's are still in shock
We're gonna knock Barack around the clock
Pick your spending cuts, and come with us
We'll put it all in an Omnibus

RYAN, McCARTHY, ISSA

We're gonna block Barack around the clock
We're gonna block block block it's our bedrock
We're gonna rock gonna rock our great big voting bloc

CANTOR

When health care dies, and earmarks flee
We'll owe a debt to the tea par-ty

TRIO

We're gonna move Obama to the right
We're gonna mock mock mock his election fright
We're gonna talk, gonna talk, and then we might indict

CANTOR

Republicans will have our way
We'll protect your wealth when you pass away
We're gonna knock Barack around the clock
It's just a recipe for more gridlock
We're gonna block, gonna block Barack around the clock.

CHORUS

We're gonna block Barack around the clock
It's a recipe for more gridlock
We're gonna knock, gonna knock Barack around the clock.

A BOEHNER MEDLEY (From: Johnny Angel, Shelley Fabares, and It's My Party, Lesley Gore)

Cast portraying John Boehner

LEAD SINGER

Johnny Boehner (GIRL GROUP: Johnny Boehner), he's our Speaker (he's our speaker)
He's got charm and grace and such élan
We Republicans are thrilled
That he's our No. 1 man

Johnny Boehner (GIRLS: Johnny Boehner), how we love him (how we love him)
He's the one who some of us adore
How we hold our breath when votes
Are counted on the House floor

He gets headaches
All his ducks in a row
Shot down by his own folks
No wonder that he smokes
In his loafers, and his bright-colored ties
At least he wears a shirt
While others online flirt

Johnny Boehner (GIRLS: Johnny Boehner), we still love him (we still love him)
He's so orange, suave and doctrinaire
If his convictions have to die
At least he'll do it with flair

ALL SHOUT: LOOK! HERE HE IS NOW!

BOEHNER (It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To)

Nobody knows just how hard it can be
Keeping a caucus in line;
Right wingers go their own way.
They pay their speaker no mind.

I'm try'n to show them some leadership here
Some gravitas and some gu-uts;
How did I end up in bed
With all these Tea Party nuts?

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to,
Cry if I want to, Cry if I want to;
You would cry too if it happened to you.

LADIES OF MAINE (Lady of Spain, Eddie Fisher)

Cast portraying: Republican Sens. Jim DeMint; Sen. Rand Paul; Sen. Olympia Snowe

DUET

Ladies of Maine, we abhor you
Loyalty means nothing to you
How could you work with those yahoos?
Just when we needed you most?

Stimulus money, how could you?
Gays and abortion, why would you?
Tea party's now aiming for you
Ladies of Maine, you'll be toast.

CHORUS:

Ladies of Maine, you'll be toast

REPUBLICAN MEMOIRS (Paperback Writer, The Beatles)
Cast portraying George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney

BUSH

Hey Dick and Rummy, did you read my book?
It took me DAYS to write, you should take a look
it's based on my mem'ry of decider days
how I got Saddam,
Even when I learned that he had no weapons

CHORUS

He had no weapons

RUMSFELD

Iraq's my story and I do confess
How because of YOU it became a mess
Paul Bremer, Condi Rice and Colin too
Screwed the whole thing up
Never told me that we needed more troops there
Needed more troops there

CHORUS:

Needed more troops there...troops there....troops there...

CHENEY

Mine will come out soon and then I'll settle scores
Like Iraqi prisoners you'll be on all fours
Al Qaeda's working to destroy this place,
Still a real grave threat
But Obama knows that we did the right things

CHORUS:

We did the right things

BUSH, RUMSFELD, CHENEY

If you really like them you can have our rights,
We can make a movie for you overnight.

BUSH: Brad Pitt, RUMSFELD: George Clooney, CHENEY: and Matt Damon too.

They can play our parts
Just as long as they can make us look macho
Make us look macho

CHORUS:

Make them look macho...macho...macho

FINGER IN THE WIND (Candle in the Wind, Elton John)

Cast portraying GOP Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham

MCCAIN:

Gays in the military
Used to never bother me at all
I was happy once letting
The Joint Chiefs make that call
And on immigration,
You know my old stance was withdrawn
And my message, it became:
"Hey Juan, get off my lawn." [shout this line]

And it may seem to you I lived last year
With my finger in the wind
Never knowing what to cling to
'Cause I had to win
And when it comes to all your judgments
Frankly, I don't give a damn.
I still have my Senate seat
And my best friend, Lindsey Graham

CHORUS
He still has his Senate seat
And his best friend, Lindsey Graham

LEADER OF THE PAC (Leader of the Pack, the Shangri-Las)
Cast portraying Mitch Daniels and Girl Group

SPOKEN:

MITCHETTE 1

Is she really gonna give to HIM ?

MITCHETTE 2

Well, there she is. Let's ask her.

MITCHETTE 1

Betty - Is that Mitch's PAC you're supporting?

BETTY:

Mm-hmm

MITCHETTE 2

Gee - it must be great giving to Mitch.
Is he doing anything for you?

BETTY

Uhn - uhn

MITCHETTE 1

By the way, where'd you meet him?

SUNG:

Betty:

I met him at the O-M-B
He read tax code and rules to me
You get the picture?

MITCHETTES

Yes, we see

BETTY:

So now I give to the AIMING HIGHER PAC.
(Motorcycle Noise)
Some folks say he's a true heavyweight (Mitchettes: weight, weight)
Though he may come from a really dull state

MITCHETTES

(Watcha mean when ya say that he comes from a really dull state?)

BETTY

They said he had no height
But I fell for his might
That's why I give to the AIMING HIGHER PAC
(Motorcycle Noise)
One day I might want somebody new (Mitchettes: new, new)
But till then Mitch will just have to do

MITCHETTES

(Watcha mean when ya say that ya might want somebody new?)

BETTY

My Hoosier's plans are grand
But sometimes he seems bland

CHORUS

But still she gives to the AIMING HIGHER PAC

THE IMPOSSIBLE TWEET (The Impossible Dream, from Man of La Mancha)

SARAH PALIN character

To tweet the un-thought-about tweet
To own my own name through trademark
To scorn those who opine against me
To shoot caribou on a lark

To give those at C-Pac the shaft
To star in reality shows
To bear the unbearable liberals
To blog about things I don't know

This is my quest
To side-step the press
To run if I want to
Not under duress

To fight for the right
And to lay waste the left
To be willing to refudiate
Without knowledge or heft

And I know if I only stay true
To my Tea Party base
That my books and my speeches will sell
If I just show my face

CHORUS

And her world will be richer for this
Who needs work or an office to seek

PALIN

I'll rise as a modern-day Shakespeare
To tweet the un-thought-about tweet

I'VE SEEN EVERYONE (I've Been Everywhere, Hank Snow)
Cast portraying Karl Rove and various GOP presidential candidates names in the song

ROVE

Well, back in the day, you know
They called me the ARCHitect
I had a certain knack for knowin'
Who the people WOULD elect

But this time I dunno unless
There's someone I've missed
And, listen, man, I've looked at
Every hopeful on the list!

I've seen every one, man
I've seen every one, man
Sure as the mornin' sun, man
They all wanna run, man
Egos by the ton, man
I've seen every one.

I've seen...
Romney, Huckabee, Christie, Giuliani
Johnson, Huntsman, Daniels and Pawlenty
Roemer, Cain, DeMint, Santorum
Trump, Bush, Bachmann, Barbour and Bolton
Perry and Pence and Palin and Paul
Gingrich, too, I've seen 'em all.

Tim is excitin' -- NO, not very
But HE's got Red Hot Smokin' Mary
Cain's an expert with a pizza
Mitch, he's shorter than Scalia
Haley hopes he can win it all,
And history'll get an overhaul.

I've seen every one, man
I've seen every one, man
Sure as the mornin' sun, man
They all wanna run, man
Egos by the ton, man
I've seen every one.

I've seen ...
Huckabee at his weekly weigh-in
Sarah Palin out surveyin'
Eye of Newt and chin of Romney
Guy in drag, that's Giuliani
Mitt, he's drivin' fast and far
With man's best friend strapped to his car.

John McCain, I guess he's history
What he's thinkin', it's a mystery
Where the heck is Harold Stassen
Guess he's pushin' up the grass..an'
Someone mentioned Alan Keyes

CHORUS (Shouted)

Not again!! Oh, spare us please!

CHORUS

We've seen every one, man
We've seen every one, man
Sure as the mornin' sun, man
They all wanna run, man
Egos by the ton, man

ROVE

I've seen every one.

EVERYTHING's COMING UP ROSES (Gypsy)

Cast portraying Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid

PELOSI

Things are swell!

REID

Things are fine!

PELOSI

Harry's still got his JOB, I got mine

REID

Now we're back.

PELOSI

Frick and Frack.
REID

Nancy, everything's coming up roses!
PELOSI

Lost the House
REID

That's okay

PELOSI

Running things was a drag anyway

REID

Budget cuts? Not for us

PELOSI

Honey, we would be holding our noses!

REID

Who needs winning! Power's lost its lus-TER

PELOSI

My head was spinning!
REID

It's our turn to filibus-TER!
PELOSI

We give up! To the right!
REID

Let them get 60 votes every night!
PELOSI

Our stimulus ... will stimulate!
REID

Any year now! Just you wait!
PELOSI

There's really nothing left for us to do!

REID

Nancy, everything's coming up roses for me and you!
PELOSI

Boehner's in charge; let's see how much that he can do!
BOTH

The mess that we left him will mess up his Tea Party!
CHORUS

Everything's coming up roses for you and for me!

JUST LIKE A LIBERAL (Bob Dylan's Just Like a Woman)

Cast portraying Howard Dean

HOWARD DEAN

Nobody feels any change
Since that election night Chicago - it's all the same!
Everyone supposed, we knew `The One' we chose
But lately we seen the emperor has no clothes
Now we're wondering: Who's that man?

(refrain)
He looks just like a lib-ral
Yes he does and he writes books just like a lib-ral
Yes and his knee jerks just like a lib-ral
But he works with ... the Re-pub-li-CANS

John Boehner's his new friend
Can you believe they cut the rich man's tax again?
What were those campaign pledges worth?
Quell the oceans, heal the earth
Don't ask don't tell the country of your birth
End the war, close Guantanamo - "No we can't!"

(refrain)
He's so cool just like a lib-ral
Yes he is Harvard Law School just like a lib-ral
Suffers us fools, just like a lib-ral
SOLOIST and CHORUS: But he rules with Republi-CANS

MY FAVORITE FRIENDS (My Favorite Things from "The Sound of Music")

Cast portraying Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and global leaders named in the skit:

(Spoken) Oh, no! We said WHAT about WHO?

How dare that Wiki-Leaks publish our super-secret cables? Can you imagine
a world where diplomats say what they really think about foreign leaders?

Well it would certainly make it more fun to listen to Hillary Clinton. Here
comes our frequent-flying secretary of state now.

HILLARY CLINTON, singing:

A thin-skinned French MIDGET who goes by Sar-KO-zy
A dirty old man that they CALL Berlus-CO-ni
A nut job named KARzai who we must defend
These are a few of my favorite friends

Kim JONG-il's a drunken delusional FAT man
MedVEDev and Putin are Robin and BATman
In a Mafia state run by Russian made-men
CHORUS: These are a few of my favorite friends

Germany's MERK-el is timid and NER-vous
QuaDAffi's had sexy UKRAINian nurses
Prince ANdrew's bad language can SOMEtimes offend
CHORUS: These are a few of her favorite friends

After long flights
When this job bites
When I'm feeling bleak
I simply imagine my favorite friends
When they see their WI-ki leak

IT WAS NEWS TO ME (You Belong to Me)

Cast portraying CIA Director Leon Panetta:

PANETTA

See the pyramids along the Nile.
Authoritarians were just our style.
Revolutions brewing all the while
How was I to see?

Tunis, Cairo, those kids ran amok
Hid their plans where we would never look
A very secret place they call Facebook
It was news to me.

Could it be that after all those years
Of giving tyrants cash and guns and gear
Egypt, Bahrain all that oil so dear
Won't belong to us?

CHORUS

Won't belong to us!

_________________________________________________

TSA MEDLEY (Heigh-Ho from "Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs" and Give up the Funk)

TSA SCREENER

Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! To frisk you we must go! We'll reach way down and grope around!
Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho.

Heigh-ho Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! We'll goose you 'til you glow!
We're going to look, in every nook! Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho!

If you say NO, say NO! To X-Ray you must go! And we'll divulge your every bulge!
Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho!

Heigh-ho Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! This may feel kind of low!
If it's a pain, then take the train! Heigh Ho! Heigh-Ho

HARRIED AIR TRAVELER

You got a late flight to catch, you're in line, losing time
There's a whole lot of waitin' goin' on (Heigh-ho!)
You feel a hand on your waist, moving 'round, slidin' down
There's a whole lot of feelin' goin' on (Heigh-ho!)

Don't touch my junk! (Heigh-ho!)
CHORUS: Don't touch my junk! (Heigh-ho!)
I know my rights! (Heigh-ho!)
Stay outta my tights! (Heigh-ho!)
When did the courts (Heigh-ho!)
Let you into my shorts? (Heigh-ho!)
Yo, screener punk! (Heigh-ho!)
CHORUS: Don't touch my junk!
_____________________________________________________________

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW (from the Wizard of Oz)

Cast portraying Health Sec. Kathleen Sebelius and characters from The Wizard of Oz

SECRETARY SEBELIUS

Somewhere over the rainbow
Mandates lay.
We made sure they won't start 'til
After Election Day.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Cost curves bend,
And the savings we promised
Will cause the debt to end.

But if you have a slacker son
Who's sitting home upon his bum,
He's covered.

And if conditions pre-exist,
You won't lack coverage due to risk.
Don't you just love this?!

Somewhere over the rainbow
Folks will see
A better system if it's fine
with Justice Kennedy.
Some day they'll thank us, yes they will,
But only after
They...get...very ... ill.

TRIANGULATE (Twist and Shout)
Cast portraying Bill Clinton

Well, take it from Bubba now (CHORUS: take it from Bubba)
Tri-ANG-u-LATE! (CHORUS: tri-ang-u-late)
Fake it, fake it, Obama now (CHORUS: fake it Obama)
For me it worked great. (CHORUS: It worked great)

You're going to look so tight (CHORUS: look so tight)
You're going to look so slick (CHORUS: look so slick)
Play the left against the right now (CHORUS: left against right)
Just like I did in 96 (CHORUS: ninety-six)

[8-bar dance break]

CHORUS

Aaah, aaah, aaah, aaah, (squeal)

Well, it's really not that hard now (CHORUS: not that hard)
Tri-ANG-u-LATE! (CHORUS: triangulate!)
Your opponents aren't that smart now (CHORUS: not that smart)
You know they'll take the bait (CHORUS: Take the bait, oooh!)

You're a silver-tongued devil, (CHORUS: silver-tongued devil)
There's no one so deft (CHORUS: none so deft)
You can own the whole center now (CHORUS: own the whole center)
If you freak out the Left (CHORUS: freak out the left!)

CHORUS

Aaah, aaah, aaah, aaah

"MAKE IT STOP" ("Start Me Up" Rolling Stones)

RED CHEERLEADER 1

Yeah we started up
So long ago you thought we'd never stop
Since we started up
You wondered when the show would ever stop

We've been on so long
Bill Daley's nappin' on a table top
Seventh course is done
Alan Greenspan's beggin'make it stop, make it stop, make it, make it, make it stop

We've made you ladies sigh
We've made you grown men cry
We singe but never fry
Sometimes we're cute, sometimes we're mean
Sometimes out meaning is impossible to glean

CHORUS

Time to stop
Time to stop

"THE GRIDIRON PLAYERS'' ("Livin' on a Prayer" Bon Jovi)

BLUE CHEERLEADER 1

They got some nerve to stand up on stage

They're barely employed, they don't act their age
They lust for . . . your gaffes

They been from Dogpatch to Camelot
Coverin' politicians some were clean some not
For tellin' truth to power they're OK but -- for laughs
Is this all they got?

Whoa-oh the Gridiron players
Whoa-no they don't have a prayer
They got a band, pretty costumes to wear
But whoa-no they don't have a prayer

CHORUS

Whoa-oh the Gridiron players
Whoa-no they don't have a prayer
They got a band, pretty costumes to wear
But whoa-no they don't have a prayer

"THE GRIDIRON-RON'' ("Da Doo Ron Ron," Crystals)

RED CHEERLEADERS; BLUE CHEERLEADERS; OLD NEWSBOY;
GOOD-GIRL & BAD-GIRL GROUPS
RED CHEER 1

Tonight we showed the world the way to get along

RED DUET

At Gridiron-ron at Gridiron

RED CHEER 2

Just drink a glass of wine and sing a silly song

CHORUS

At Gridiron-ron at Gridiron
RED DUET

Strange bedfellows
Dancing dosi-dos
'Til the curtains close
CHORUS

At Gridiron-ron at Gridiron

BLUE CHEER 1

Sebelius tried sell us medicine

BLUE DUET

At Gridiron-ron at Gridiron
BLUE CHEER 2

Mitch Daniels rocked us like a crazy man
CHORUS

At Gridiron-ron, at Gridiron
BLUE DUET

Monday we will fight
But we're friends tonight
By the rosy light
Of Gridiron-ron of Gridiron

OLD NEWS

We started up the show in 1885
CHORUS

The Gridiron-ron, the Gridiron

OLD NEWS

Some of us remember 'cause we're still alive

QUINTET

At Gridiron, son, at Gridiron

QUINTET

O say can you see
Sweet Civility
Baby 'tis of thee
We sing at Gridir'n at Gridi-ron

CHORUS REPEATS VERSE

O say can you see . . .

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Congressional Approval Drops Below 20 Percent, Poll Finds

Christopher Weber — 2011-03-11T16:40:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Republicans, Poll Watch, Congress, Conservatives

Americans' approval of the job Congress is doing is on the decline again, hitting 18 percent this month after inching above the 20 percent mark in February, according to a new poll out Friday.

The Gallup survey found that Congress' approval rating is "essentially back to where it was just after last November's midterm elections."

Following a historical trend, voters' approval bumped up slightly when the new Congress took office in January, giving the GOP control of the House. Americans generally feel better about their representatives on Capitol Hill immediately following power shifts. But this year it didn't last.

Friday's approval (or disapproval) numbers fall evenly along party lines, with just 20 percent of both Republicans and Democrats giving thumbs up to Congress, according to Gallup. Fifteen percent of independents approve.

Since Gallup began tracking the measure in 1974, congressional approval has averaged about 34 percent. Since 2008, however, Congress' approval rating has been below 20 percent in 15 of 39 months, including a record-low 13 percent last December.

Read the complete results of Gallup's new poll here.

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Emotions Run High at Rep. Peter King's Hearings on Radical Muslims in the U.S.

Patricia Murphy — 2011-03-10T14:45:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Republicans, The Capitolist, International, Congress, Islam

After a firestorm of controversy, Rep. Peter King pressed ahead with his hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee Thursday examining the threat of radical Islam within the United States.

He defended his decision to investigate the role of the Muslim community in homegrown terrorism even as his colleagues accused him of singling out Muslims, suggesting that fanatics from other religions deserve similar scrutiny.

"There is nothing radical or un-American about holding these hearings," King, a New York Republican, told the Capitol Hill hearing overflowing with reporters, network television cameras, congressional staff and protesters.

He listed the numerous incidents and terrorist plots in the United Stated involving radicalized Islamists since the Sept. 11 attacks, including the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas; the "Ft. Dix Six," who were arrested before they could attack the New Jersey installation; and the arrest last year of a Portland-area man who had intended to detonate a bomb during the city's annual tree lighting.

"This committee cannot live in denial," King said, adding that he refuses to bend to "political correctness."

But the committee's ranking member, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), asked why King had not also investigated white supremacist and anti-government groups.

"Acknowledgment of a commitment to be responsible does not equal political correctness," Thompson told King, echoing the message of King's critics around the country, who have called him racist, compared him to Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and implored him to scrap Thursday's session or broaden its focus in the days leading up to it.

Latest From Gingrich: Presidential Announcement Likely in May

Tom Diemer — 2011-03-10T11:26:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Republicans, Fundraising, 2012 President, Conservatives, Campaigns, Newt Gingrich

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich is taking the carefully choreographed process of launching a presidential campaign to a new level this year.

After tiptoeing toward forming an "exploratory" committee earlier this month, Gingrich instead revealed only that he had created an exploratory website. In fact, NewtExplore2012.com is little more than a fundraising tool. As Politics Daily's Walter Shapiro put it, the on again/off again roll-out had "all the grace of a suitcase falling down a flight of stairs."

But that was only the beginning. In a conference call this week to former aides, Gingrich said that if he runs, he will announce his campaign in front of historic Independence Hall in Philadelphia in May, according to CNN and the Associated Press. And he is leaning toward "yes," those involved in the call said. Gingrich also reportedly said he couldn't go into much detail "for legal reasons." Whether that Philly announcement will be a full-throated declaration of candidacy, or simply the official formation of an exploratory committee is not clear.

What exactly is an exploratory committee?

The Federal Election Commission notes that before deciding for sure on a national campaign, a would-be candidate "may first want to 'test the waters' -- that is, explore the feasibility" of running. That could entail traveling the country to assess public support, and just as importantly to determine if sufficient money can be raised. "An individual who merely conducts selected testing-the-waters activities does not have to register or report as a candidate even if the individual raises or spends more than $5,000," the FEC says, referring to the dollar threshold that requires filing as a "candidate."

Once that hopeful person -- with toe in water -- raises or spends more money than what is "reasonably needed" for a test run, or refers to himself as a candidate, or authorizes advertising, that person becomes a "candidate" in the eyes of the FEC -- even if still technically in the exploratory phase.

For Newt Gingrich, terms like "exploratory committee" are not trivial, since even the run-up to a candidacy forces the prospects to sort out their finances and be careful to comply with complicated campaign finance requirements -- the aforementioned "legal reasons," including documenting who is paying for what.

That is apparently why Gingrich, who presides over a network of non-profits and commercial enterprises, seemed to pull back from forming an exploratory committee earlier this month and merely made mini-news with his website. But even the prelims -- the website asking for donations -- will fall under FEC purview if he decides to make a real go of it in May.

Despite the complexities, the step-by-step process leading up to a full-blown presidential candidacy has big benefits -- mainly free media attention. Each announcement along the way will be treated as an Event by reporters eager for the launch of the late-starting 2012 presidential campaign.

Folo Tom Diemer on Twitter http://twitter.com/tomdiemer

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Rep. Peter King's Hearing on American Muslims: How Radical? How Dangerous?

Patricia Murphy — 2011-03-10T00:02:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Republicans, Religion, The Capitolist, Congress, Islam

Rep. Peter King's controversial hearing today examining the threat of radical Islam will feature two men whose family members became caught up in violent extremism, with tragic consequences.

A glimpse of the hearing emerged Wednesday as critics implored the New York Republican to scrap the session or broaden its focus. But King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, defended his approach even as he faced threats as well as questions about his own past as a supporter of the anti-British Irish Republican Army.

On Wednesday, a group of more than 50 Democrats, including the two Muslims serving in the House, wrote to King, asking him to cancel the hearing or examine religions in addition to Islam.

Rival Budget Bills Fail in Senate, Shutdown Countdown Begins

Patricia Murphy — 2011-03-09T17:01:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, House, Democrats, Republicans, Budget, The Capitolist, Congress, Deficit, Economy

The Senate voted Thursday to defeat two rival plans to cut federal spending through the end of the year, reflecting deep divisions over the best course to tame the country's spiraling debt.

The impasse means that lawmakers will continue negotiations ahead of a March 18 deadline. That's when the current short-term spending measure expires and the government could shutdown without a new agreement.

The first bill, approved by House Republicans last month, was rejected in the Senate by a vote of 44 to 56. All 53 Democrats and three Republicans voted against it. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) said the cuts in the GOP bill did not go far enough.

Biden's Absence From Budget Talks Miffs GOP Negotiators

Tom Diemer — 2011-03-09T13:31:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Republicans, Joe Biden, Budget, Obama Administration, Congress, Deficit, Barack Obama

Where's Joe?

With Vice President Biden on a five-day swing through Russia, Finland and Moldova, House Republicans are pressing for more direct involvement by the White House in negotiations to close a $50 billion gap between what they want to trim from 2011 spending and what President Obama and Democrats have been willing to accept.

"The vice president is not even in the country today," complained House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). "We have less than a week to go [in the temporary budget]. . . . The vice president is the main negotiator." McCarthy referred to the latest in a series of stopgap budgets that have kept government functioning during a standoff over cuts meant to dent a looming $1.5 trillion deficit.

Obama picked Biden to lead a White House team in meetings with congressional leaders, hoping to find common ground on spending reductions through Sept. 30. The current budget -- called a continuing resolution -- expires on March 18, but McCarthy says another short-term plan will likely be required.

McCarthy was joined at a news conference Wednesday by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who said Obama himself should get involved in the talks. "Where's the president?" Cantor asked. "We continue to hear from him and the White House that we're going to meet you halfway."

Obama was in Boston Tuesday night, speaking at a Democratic fundraising event where he said the nation is "turning the corner" on the economy.

In the budget debate, Obama said, "there are going to be some things that we will not do because we think it is wrong for the country -- and we're going to have some big fights about it." But wherever possible, he added, "we're going to have to . . . try to build consensus and make decisions based not necessarily just on short-term politics but also on what's good for the country in the long term."

"We are engaged," White House Press Secretrary Jay Carney insisted Wednesday. "We don't read out [make public] every meeting and phone call."

Biden, near the close of a long-planned trip, was in Moscow Wednesday, where he laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier -- a traditional duty for visiting dignitaries -- and also met with U.S. Embassy officials and American and Russian business leaders.

Biden told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that the U.S. strongly supports his country's entry into the World Trade Organization, an issue still being negotiated. The vice president also praised the signing of a $2 billion deal between Boeing and Aeroflot for six Boeing Co. 777-300 airliners. "It will create high-tech jobs here in Russia and at home," Biden said.

Folo Tom Diemer on Twitter http://twitter.com/tomdiemer

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Peter King's IRA Support Resurfaces as Lawmaker Probes Muslim Radicalism in U.S.

Tom Diemer — 2011-03-09T11:09:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Republicans, Investigations, Terror, Congress

As Rep. Peter King gets ready to open hearings Thursday on Muslim radicals in the U.S., the New York lawmaker is facing questions about his own past as an unapologetic supporter of the anti-British Irish Republican Army.

From his days as the elected Nassau County comptroller in the early 1980s, King has spoken out for the IRA, a nationalist group that waged a bloody bomb-and-bullet campaign for three decades in an effort to drive the British out of Northern Ireland. To King and other supporters, the IRA volunteers were freedom fighters. But to others, including many Irish Americans, the Provisionals (as the main IRA group was known) were terrorists.

Rep. Alcee Hastings Sued for Sexual Harassment of Former Aide

Politics Daily Staff — 2011-03-08T10:50:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Republicans, Scandal, Investigations, 2010 Elections, Congress, Conservatives

A conservative group with a proclivity for filing lawsuits has sued Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings, accusing the 74-year-old Democrat of sexual harassment of a woman who worked for a commission he once led.

Judicial Watch says Hastings made "unwelcome sexual advances" on policy adviser Winsome Packer between January 2008 and February 2010, when he co-chaired the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Washington Post reports. Hastings, who is divorced, denies the allegations.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, also accuses Hastings of retaliating against Packer after she rebuffed him -- threatening her job with the panel and marginalizing her. The harassment allegedly included unwanted hugs, "humiliating and inappropriate" questions in public settings and an invitation to accompany him alone to his hotel room.

"Ms. Packer was particularly vulnerable to such threats because she was a Republican working for the Democratically-controlled commission," the lawsuit asserts. ". . . Eventually, the emotional distress, anxiety and humiliation caused by the sexual harassment and retaliation caused Ms. Packer to suffer severe health problems and forced her to leave her prestigious position."

The commission, also known as the Helsinki Commission, and its former staff director Fred Turner, are also named as defendants. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a public admission from Hastings that he violated Packer's rights.

Hastings, who gave up the commission leadership after Democrats lost control of the House last year, said a draft of the complaint that he'd seen was filled with "numerous inaccuracies and untruths." He told the Post, "I have never sexually harassed anyone. In fact, I am insulted that these ludicrous allegations are being made against me. When all the facts are known in this case, the prevailing sentiment will be, 'How bizarre.' "

In its 16-year history, Judicial Watch has filed dozens of lawsuits, mostly against Democrats, including at least 18 against the administration of former President Bill Clinton. Packer, a native of Jamaica, self-published a novel last year titled "A Personal Agenda," which was "inspired by her own experiences" and "offers a unique look at political relationships and aims to show that racial, cultural and sexual harassment knows no color," according to a publicist's news release.

Hastings, too, has a history. Now in his 10th term, he was accused of bribery and perjury, impeached by the U.S. House and removed from his post as a federal judge in 1989.

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Rep. Peter King Says Threat of Domestic Islamic Terrorism Justifies Upcoming Hearing

Bruce Drake — 2011-03-06T12:27:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Terror

Rep. Peter King of New York defended on Sunday a congressional hearing he will hold this week on the threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism that focuses on Muslim-Americans, calling it an issue "which is not being talked about publicly" and needs to be.

"People in this country are being self-radicalized, whether it's Major Hasan or whether it's Shahzad or whether it was Zazi in New York," King said on CNN's "State of the Union." "These were all people who were identifying, in one way or another, with al-Qaeda or al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. So it's an international movement with elements here in the United States."

King was referring to Army Major Nidal Malik Hassan, a military psychiatrist whose shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in November 2009 claimed 13 lives; Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan-born man living in Colorado charged in 2009 with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction; and Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-born man living in suburban Connecticut, whose attempt to blow up a bomb in Times Square last June was foiled.

King said the hearing by his Homeland Security Committee, scheduled for Thursday, will "go forward; and it's going to talk about something which is not being talked about publicly, which I think should be."

Asked about a recent report saying that 48 of 120 cases involving terrorist plots came from tips from the Muslim-American community, King said he did believed there has been "insufficient cooperation" and that this would be a key focus of the hearing.

"Certainly in my dealings with the police in New York and FBI and others say they do not believe -- they do not get the level of cooperation that they need, and even in Minneapolis we had occasions with Somali-Americans who felt that there were imams in their own community who were telling them not to cooperate with the FBI," he said.

Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat who was the first Muslim to be elected to Congress, said on the same program: "It's absolutely the right thing to do for the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee to investigate radicalization, but to say we're going to investigate a religious minority ... is the wrong course of action to take."

Ellison said King's hearing would play into the hands of terrorist leaders like Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, by enabling them to "stand up and claim, you know, 'See, we told you; America's at war with Islam.'"

"That's one of their main recruiting arguments," Ellison said. "That's why I think that we need to be careful about how we use the instrumentality of the government in investigative hearings."

"The strategy should be to engage the community, don't frighten the community, engage the community and help, and say 'Look, we embrace you as fellow Americans. Let's all together hold hands and meet the security challenge.'"

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Obama to GOP: Let's 'Step Up Our Game' and Nail Budget Deal

Tom Diemer — 2011-03-05T10:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, House, Democrats, Republicans, Budget, Education, Obama Administration, Congress, Conservatives, Deficit, Barack Obama

President Obama said Saturday he has already met Republicans halfway in the on-going budget dispute and is "prepared to do more" in an effort to responsibly cut spending and avoid a government shutdown later this month.

A temporary two-budget that kept the trains running expires on March 18 as Republicans and Democrats wrangle over how much to trim from a longer-term plan that would fund government operations through Sept. 30, the close of the 2011 fiscal year.

"We've got to step up our game," Obama said in his weekly address. "We can't do business two weeks at a time... We've got to keep that momentum going."

The Republican majority in the House and most GOP senators want to reduce government outlays by $61 billion during the seven remaining months on the fiscal calender. The Obama administration countered with an offer to cut $6.5 billion on top of $4 billion included in the current stopgap budget. That leaves a $50 billion void for the Senate to cover in the next two weeks.

"We need to come together around a long-term budget that sacrifices wasteful spending without sacrificing the job-creating investments in our future... we'll only finish the job together by sitting at the same table, working out our differences and finding common ground," the president said. "... And it can't be just about how much we cut. It's got to be about how we cut and how we invest. We've got to be smart about it."

The president offered little in the way of specifics. The details, presumably, will emerge behind closed doors in negotiations between congressional leaders and Obama's team led by Vice President Biden.

But Republicans, in their weekly remarks, spoke harshly of Obama's approach. His new budget, proposed for 2012, "doesn't match his words" about government living within its means, said Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) "It continues out of control spending, it adds to our $14 trillion debt and it adds to the uncertainty that makes it harder to create jobs," Black said.

Obama delivered his statement from a high school classroom in Miami during a visit to Florida Friday. Watch it here.

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Ohio's Sherrod Brown Tells Senate: Hitler and Stalin Busted Unions Too

Tom Diemer — 2011-03-04T09:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, House, Democrats, Republicans, Governors, Congress

Not that he's making any comparison with current events, mind you, but Sen. Sherrod Brown reminded his fellow lawmakers this week that Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin had little tolerance for unions.

Neither did Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, Brown (D-Ohio) told the Senate on Thursday. "These autocrats in history don't want independent unions," he said. "Some the worst governments we've ever had -- you know one of the first things they did? They went after the trade unions."

Twenty-four hours later, he had second thoughts, explaining that he felt passionately about the current union struggle to preserve negotiating rights in Ohio. "But in speaking about this, I should not have mentioned the hostility of tyrants, like Hitler, to unions," he said in a statement. "I don't want my mistake to distract from the critical debate in Ohio, and I apologize for it."

Brown had gone the Senate floor Thursday to defend the American labor movement as state legislatures in his home state and in Wisconsin moved to strip public employees of many of their collective-bargaining rights.

Brown's office pointed out the to The Plain Dealer that he made it clear he wasn't trying to link events in the U.S. to the horrors of Nazi Germany or Stalin's Soviet Union. In his speech, the first-term Democrat said, "I'm not comparing what's happened to the workers in Madison or Columbus to Hitler and Stalin, but I am saying that history teaches us that unions are a very positive force in society that creates a middle class that protects our freedom."

Brown, a former congressman and Ohio secretary of state, has a record of close ties to unions.

Watch his Senate speech, courtesy C-SPAN:

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Newt Gingrich Inching Toward Presidential Dance?

Tom Diemer — 2011-03-02T14:50:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Republicans, 2012 President, Governors, Congress, Conservatives, Campaigns, Newt Gingrich

Will he or won't he? Amid conflicting reports, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich planned to take at least a small step this week toward a Republican presidential candidacy in 2012.

Gingrich is expected to announce his intent to form a presidential exploratory committee during a visit Thursday to his home state of Georgia, according to the Wall Street Journal. Other reports, quoting Gingrich aides Tuesday, suggested he would actually announce formation of such a committee. Then again, he may say very little about his national ambitions, Politico said, out of concern that any pointed talk of a candidacy could prematurely trigger legal and financial questions relative to who's paying for what.

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