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The incoming 114th Congress is much more Christian than the national population. Despite deep divides in political ideology, lawmakers in the 114th Congress share other important beliefs with their colleagues in the previous Congress. These beliefs aren't rooted in the tangible, rough-and-tumble world of Capitol Hill, though—they're in the spiritual realm. When the incoming GOP-controlled Congress is sworn in Tuesday, the ranks will remain overwhelmingly Christian. That's a continued divergence from the American public, which includes more religious minorities, such as Hindus and Buddhists. According to a Pew survey released Monday, 91.8 percent of the 114th Congress subscribes to varying...

via Daniel Horowitz on twitter Here what you need to know: We don;t have 29 definitive nos. But Boehner only has about 130 yes votes.

If the Republican rank and file were voting today for Speaker of the U.S. House, we all know who would win. And it certainly wouldn't be John Boehner. It wouldn't even be close. Conservatives across the fruited plain know too well by now that Boehner's governing coalition is not with them, but with Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama. Boehner's repeated abandonment of the Hastert rule, which was that no legislation would move in the House unless it was supported by at least a majority of the majority, and his seeking of Democrat votes to pass legislation that is hostile to...

via Jamie Dupree on twitter Rep Justin Amash R-MI says he will not vote for Speaker Boehner

The new Congress will begin its session today. Conservatives will try to oust Speaker John Boehner and will fail badly in their efforts. From there the question is what direction is the new Republican Congress going to take things. The next 100 days are crucial for the Republican Party, which badly needs to show its capable of governing. It’s a given that President Obama will veto just about every bill Congress sends him. The key for Republicans will be passing bills the general public can support while making Obama look like an obstructionist in vetoing them. It’s easier said than...

Speaker John Boehner hopes Tuesday is the beginning of a new reality on Capitol Hill. For years, Boehner has had to stroke the egos of his House Republican Conference’s far-right fringe, the hardline conservatives who had an outsized voice in every legislative debate and often dragged the entire party with them, even when he implored them to ease up. Now, though, the Ohio Republican and his allies are confident he will win his third term as speaker on Tuesday without the dozen or so “Hell no!” conservatives who have seemingly stymied him at every turn. He will lose the support...

On Monday, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin called for House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) ouster and said she is rooting for Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) to replace him. “I love Louie Gohmert,” Palin said on Fox News’s Hannity. “I’ll be rooting for Louie.” Palin said that Boehner, in asking President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to get Democrats to vote for the CRomnibus spending bill, made a choice to make deals with the far left instead of consulting with conservatives and the base. She said that Boehner is someone who has “gone along just to get...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Newly elected Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) has recently reaffirmed her support for repealing Obamacare on ABC’s This Week with host Martha Raddatz. When asked by Raddatz if she would stand by senators like Ted Cruz in their fight to do whatever possible to defund and dismantle Obamacare, Love responded: “Look, I was elected by my district to make sure we get the decision-making back in their hands and I’ve said I was going to do everything I can to repeal and replace it with broad health-care reforms, free-market health-care reforms. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”Though it may...

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) today issued the following statement on the Speaker of the House for the 114th Congress: “I strongly believe that Congress ought to be more aggressive in opposing President Obama’s policies than in the past. Time will tell if the new Congress will bring a more aggressive approach in fighting President Obama’s failed policies.” “That being said, no candidate other than John Boehner stepped forward for the nomination at the Republican Conference meeting of November 13, 2014. Had a viable candidate sought the nomination at that meeting, I would have given serious consideration to supporting them due...

Obama plans to talk manufacturing in Detroit ahead of auto show By Khalil AlHajal | kalhajal@mlive.com January 05, 2015 at 1:48 PM DETROIT, MI -- President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak in Michigan on Wednesday and is expected talk about manufacturing jobs, according to the Associated Press. The visit will come days ahead of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which begins with press previews Jan. 12. The president is expected to highlight manufacturing jobs and his decision to bail out the auto industry in a Detroit-area visit before heading to Phoenix the next day to focus...

This morning on Meet the Press, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the city will "explore every option" in regards to getting Initiative 71 enforced in the city. Initiative 71, which would have permitted the legal use of marijuana for recreational purposes, was passed with overwhelming support on Election Day, yet was blocked by Congress. Bowser had previously been against legalized marijuana, but has since changed her position to align with the will of the voters of the District of Columbia. Bowser also said that she intends on "forging a path" for increased autonomy in the District of Columbia. Mayor...

“Mitch McConnell has an unusual admonition for the new Republican majority as it takes over the Senate this week: Don’t be ‘scary.’”... Democrats are dubious of McConnell’s pledge to avert edge-of-the-cliff moments. They believe he will run into the same problems that have bedeviled House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) during the past four years — including the inability to corral rabble-rousers such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) to support an agenda that conservative critics will probably view as not bold enough in challenging Obama. Appeasing those far-right conservatives will lead to an agenda that Democrats hope to exploit in...

WASHINGTON – Two Republican lawmakers have stepped forward to challenge House Speaker John Boehner’s campaign for a third term as top dog in the lower chamber, raising the specter of an extended selection procedure that could muddy the selection process.Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), a Tea Party Republican who has been a consistent pain in Boehner’s side, announced Sunday that he will challenge Boehner, declaring that the election “is not about a particular candidate — it is about whether we keep the status quo or make the change the country demands.”Gohmert’s announcement follows on the heels of the declaration by...

At approximately noon on Tuesday January 6, 2015 the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate will bang their gavels calling their respective Chambers to order and, for the 114th time since 1789, a new United States Congress will begin. Amendment XX, Section 2 to the U.S. Constitution reads: "The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day." This Amendment fixed a Constitutional anomaly (Article I, Section 4, Clause 2) that held: "The Congress...

The rank and file aren’t happy. A minimutiny may be underway in the House of Representatives as another conservative has come out to announce that he will oppose Rep. John Boehner in his re-election bid as House speaker. [Snip] Another Republican, Rep. Walter C. Jones of North Carolina, said there are up to 18 conservatives who are looking for an alternative to Mr. Boehner. In 2013, there were nine Republicans who didn’t vote for Mr. Boehner. [Snip] Mr. Obama has been eating Mr. Boehner’s lunch for years. Early on, the president got the speaker to agree to $500 billion in...

LibFreeUSA suggested this on the thread linked below, but didn't see one in my search. Starting a thread to keep a running total of those Republicans that have publically stated that they will not vote for Boehner for Speaker. I hear many more members are working on statements to oppose Boehner as we speak...[and Stutzman] https://twitter.com/ ^ | 1/4/15 | via Matthew Boyle on Twitter Posted on ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2015‎ ‎4‎:‎21‎:‎38‎ ‎PM by cotton1706 via Matthew Boyle on Twitter Matthew Boyle ‏@mboyle1 · 12m12 minutes ago I hear many more members are working on statements to oppose Boehner as we speak.... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3243475/posts

Less than 3 percent of illegal immigrants will ever be deported, and more than 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border remained unsecured as of 2014, according to Sen. Tom Coburn’s final oversight report released Saturday morning, which found the Homeland Security Department failing in several of its top missions. The report also said corruption is a serious problem in the Border Patrol, but said agency officials actually told internal affairs investigators to cut down on the number of cases they were pursuing, according to the former division head. In another finding Mr. Coburn’s staff on the Senate Homeland Security Committee...

Rep Louie Gohmert was just on Fox and Friends and has thrown his hat in the ring to be Speaker. Whoo Hoo! Will post link to article when one comes up

By our count at the Galen Institute, more than 46 significant changes already have been made to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: at least 28 that President Obama has made unilaterally, 16 that Congress has passed and the president has signed, and 2 by the Supreme Court. CHANGES BY ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION 1. Medicare Advantage patch:

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid broke several ribs and facial bones when a piece of exercise equipment snapped at his Nevada home Thursday, causing the lawmaker to fall. In a statement issued Friday, Reid's office said the 75-year-old senator was hospitalized overnight at University Medical Center in Las Vegas as a precaution and was released on Friday.