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The Republican National Committee is sending out a fundraising e-mail that urges donors to send GOP Valentine's E-Cards to loved ones with online contributions of anywhere from $10 to $100. Click on the photo with Reed, Pelosi, and Zero or choose another one. There are 18 choices! Or go to this link to see all of them: http://www.gopvalentine.com/?e=politics-unit@foxnews.com

GOP may skip health-care talks if Dems won't dump billsBy Michael D. Shear The Washington Post Posted: 02/09/2010 01:00:00 AM MST WASHINGTON — Leading House Republicans raised the prospect Monday night that they may decline to participate in President Barack Obama's proposed health-care summit if the White House chooses not to scrap the existing reform bills and start over. In a letter to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia expressed frustration about reports that Obama intends to put the Democratic bills on the table for...

Everyone who is familiar with Obama and his lapdog press smells a rat with regards to Obama's invitation to the Republicans to take part in healthcare talks - in front of the cameras that Obama so loves, of course. I think the way the Republicans should approach this entire fiasco is to inform Obama and the Dems that they want the transparency Obama promised and then push to go over the ENTIRE Healthcare Bill paragraph by paragraph - all 3,000 pages of it. We all know there are things hidden in this bill that Americans do NOT want - why...

Or that's what this amusing Washington Times piece should have been titled, instead of "Obama's bipartisan call hits wall of dissent." I'm thinking the headline writer only read the first couple paragraphs... "Despite his continued calls for collaboration, just two weeks after President Obama's State of the Union address, the window has closed on the areas of bipartisan cooperation he laid out, with Republicans saying his budget puts some ideas out of play and Democrats taking others off the table. Republicans say Mr. Obama's list was already fairly short. They rejected out of hand his renewed push for health care...

When Republicans take President Obama up on his invitation to hash out their differences over health care this month, they will carry with them a fairly well-developed set of ideas intended to make health insurance more widely available and affordable, by emphasizing tax incentives and state innovations, with no new federal mandates and only a modest expansion of the federal safety net. It is not clear that Republicans and the White House are willing to negotiate seriously with each other, and Mr. Obama has rejected Republican demands that he start from scratch in developing health care legislation. But Congressional Republicans...

The best stock market rally in 74 years may have ended on Jan. 19, the same day Republican Scott Brown won the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat held by Democrats for 57 years. We don't know yet whether the alarming move down in stocks since then is simply a correction or something more serious. But the coincidence of these two history-making events raises troubling questions—especially since a Republican resurgence, on the face of it, would seem to be good for business and good for stocks. [snip]Just 24 hours after Mr. Brown's upset win, the White House let it be known that...

No one has vested more hope in the tea-party move ment than the Democrats. For all the scorn and abuse they've heaped on the tea-partiers, they've counted on them for salvation. The tea-partiers would push the GOP out of the mainstream. They'd tar the party with their bumptious extremism. They'd stoke a Republican civil war. The tea-partiers would, in short, redeem the Obama administration's political fortunes no matter what. This was the oft-repeated theory, shot through with a perverse hopefulness and woeful misunderstanding. One wonders if Democrats can overcome their contempt for the tea-partiers -- whom they call "tea baggers,"...

GOP leaders: Don't use current health bills for summit starting point By Molly K. Hooper - 02/08/10 07:03 PM ET House Republican leaders said Monday the healthcare summit should not use House and Senate bills as a starting point. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Republicans are right to be reluctant in embracing a summit if the president is unwilling to start the talks from scratch. “If the starting point for this meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected, Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate,” the pair...

GOP says they will agree to meet with Obama over the Health Care bill if he agrees to start over from scratch......good for them. No more of the typical Dem way. Meaning the backroom deals, the buying off of politicians, no more Obama telling the country what we need. Instead, you listen to us and WE tell you what we need. In the end, this ain't gonna happen. If Obama gives in to the Republicans & the American people then he will lose his base even more. This bill is only about votes. It's no longer about fixing real problems...

When Palin’s book first came out, I remember Rush Limbaugh commenting that it was a great book on public policy. Others who commented on his comment took him to task for seeing something in the book that wasn’t there. At least that was what they said. Now that I’ve read it for myself, I can say that Rush was correct. No one disputes that the book is primarily autobiographical. The intent clearly is to reintroduce Palin to the public from her perspective rather than through the lens of her critics. Yet a significant part of who she is pertains to...

House GOP Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) and Whip Eric Cantor (R., Va.) just sent White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel a letter regarding the upcoming health-care summit: Mr. Emanuel: We welcome President Obama’s announcement of forthcoming bipartisan health care talks. In fact, you may remember that last May, Republicans asked President Obama to hold bipartisan discussions on health care in an attempt to find common ground on health care, but he declined and instead chose to work with only Democrats. Since then, the President has given dozens of speeches on health care reform, operating under the premise that...

Could this turn into something more than political theater? President Barack Obama's televised dialogue with Republican lawmakers on health care, promised for later this month, has the makings of an entertaining exchange. But the differences between the basic Democratic and GOP ideas are stark — and the two sides have increasingly hardened their positions in this election year. Yet, in a story with more twists than a soap opera, Obama's invitation to congressional leaders of both parties to attend a Feb. 25 meeting can't be dismissed as a mere diversion. Although many Americans have doubts about the Democrats' sweeping plans...

With her suggestion that she would be available for a Presidential run in 2012, the question arises in the minds of political observers, 'Is Sarah Palin the new voice of the GOP?' Fresh from her stirring keynote address at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville over the weekend, Palin stated on Fox News Sunday that she could not 'close the door' on the possibility of a Presidential bid in the upcoming 2012 election. The announcement brought cheers from Palin supporters all across the country who believe that the former Alaska Governor is the top conservative alternative for the modern...

"Run, Sarah, Run" was the echo of the crowd this weekend as Sarah Palin gave an energizing keynote speech at the Tea Party convention -- and it seems the former Alaska governor is strongly considering the advice. Speaking to Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday," Palin said she would "certainly" consider a run for the presidency in 2012. "I would. I would if I believed that that is the right thing to do for our country and for the Palin family. Certainly, I would do so," she said.(continued)

President Barack Obama has invited republicans to the White house to participate in a televised discussion on health care reform.  Obama said in an interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric on Sunday: "I want to ask them to put their ideas on the table, and then after the recess, which will be a few weeks away, I want to come back and have a large meeting, the Republicans and Democrats, to go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward" Is his proposal an attempt to reach across party lines and come together...

Republicans say they have no idea yet who will be invited to join President Obama later this month to discuss health care reform but they have plenty of ideas if Obama is sincere about wanting to work together. "When you learn about it in a press event you have the suspicion it's going to be nothing more than a press event," said Sage Eastman, communications director for Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., who wrote the Republican alternative to the Democratic bill. "We're optimistic that this is a chance for the president to say to the American people that we've heard you....

President Obama moved to jump-start the stalled health-care debate Sunday, inviting Republicans in Congress to participate in a bipartisan, half-day televised summit on the subject this month. The president made the offer in an interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric hours before the network televised the Super Bowl. Obama challenged Republicans, who have been largely unified in opposing his proposals, to bring their best ideas for how to cover more Americans and fix the health-insurance system to the public discussion. "I want to consult closely with our Republican colleagues," Obama said. "What I want to do is to ask...

If the 2012 primary for president were held today, which of the following would you vote for? Sarah Palin Mitt Romney Dick Cheney Newt Gingrich Mike Huckabee Tim Pawlenty

Congressional Republicans lashed out at White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan, who said Sunday that the lawmakers were told the Christmas Day terrorist attacker was taken into FBI custody. Brennan said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) were all briefed on Christmas Day and that they raised no objections.

Scott Brown says he's a different kind of Republican, a centrist willing to work with Senate Democrats to fix health care and the ailing economy. But his independent bent is likely to be sorely tested in a bitterly divided Senate where party loyalty is often at a premium. "If he wants to have a future in Massachusetts politics, Brown has to live up to being a New England Republican - fiscally conservative, socially moderate, independent-minded," said Dante Scala, a University of New Hampshire political science professor. "Is Obama going to try to craft some room for himself in the center?"...

In light of the worst campaign ad ever- Demonsheep, I bring you the best campaign ad ever- Vote Pia This kid has her head on straight.

In recent months, the most influential political party in the country may not be the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, but the Tea Party. This murky, largely leaderless grassroots movement has been the driving force behind the derailment of President Barack Obama's dearest agenda items, notably health care reform and climate change legislation. What are the goals of this movement? In part, that is the wrong question. The Tea Party effort rejects the notion that a politician or a pundit should define their movement. Rather, citizens themselves will tell us what the movement means. As their name suggests, these...

Maybe House Republicans learned their lesson last week after President Obama joined them at their retreat and proved once again to be a very formidable opponent rather than a mere foil. But even if the president’s poised performance brought some of them back to reality, Democratic defeats in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, as well as public opinion polls showing voters unhappy with the direction of the country, have combined to make too many Republicans downright giddy about the fall elections. In fact, GOP political consultants and strategists aren’t popping champagne corks yet. Instead, they worry about the euphoria on...

So why does he ignore GOP ideas?Prior to last week's meeting in Baltimore at the House GOP retreat, Obama had not met with House Republicans since February of last year. But he claims he know we have ideas... [VIDEO AT SITE] Mike Pence, Chairman of the House GOP Conference handed President Obama a copy of "Better Solutions" which includes a brief summary of GOP plans for: The GOP Healthcare Alternative provides affordable access to all Americans, instead of mandating a one-size-fits-all health system; Read more at floppingaces.net...

<p>A few months ago, the East Valley Tea Party group did not exist. On Saturday, January 30, 2010, they held a “Superbowl of Conservative Candidates” at a high school in Mesa, Arizona from noon to 8 p.m. Any candidate for elective office professing to be a conservative was given the opportunity to spend the day in a class room fielding questions from interested citizens. Many, many candidates were there, including former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who is running to unseat John McCain in the primary. There were hundreds of citizens there. Lots of campaign signs were posted around the parking lot. Volunteers helped direct attendees to available parking spots. It was a well-run affair.</p>

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary “blanket hold” on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, which means no nominations can move forward unless Senate Democrats can secure a 60-member cloture vote to break it, or until Shelby lifts the hold.

Yesterday our Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives proved that he still isn't seeing the problem with the GOP. He’s living in denial, at least he is if we can take his words at face value. On the Mike Gallagher radio show yesterday, leader Boehner insisted that there is no substantive ideological differences between the Tea Party folks and the Republican Party. (As reported by The Hill) "There really is no difference between what Republicans believe in and what the tea party activists believe in," Boehner said during an appearance on the conservative Mike Gallagher's radio show. Boehner...

Great. Here comes one more model prone to sudden acceleration. Another Toyota? Actually, no. This one is Scott Brown, as of Thursday the junior senator from Massachusetts. Brown, the surprise victor in last month's special election, had raised no objection to taking his oath of office on Feb. 11. But then conservative commentators complained that he was dilly-dallying; the Boston Herald's Howie Carr accused him on Wednesday of taking "a three-week victory lap." So, in one of his first major decisions since winning election, the Republican made his choice: He would cave in to his conservative critics. He requested --...

On Thursday, Will Breazeale, candidate for United States Congress in North Carolina's 7th Congressional District, took to the streets of Wilmington to read the list of corrupt donors to Democrat Mike McIntyre. In front of McIntyre's office at 201 North Front Street, the three-time Iraq War veteran boldly read from a list of donors with connections to corruption or who had been convicted of crimes. All had given money to McIntyre. "The problem with Washington is that our elected officials are more interested in cash than integrity," Breazeale stated. "You would think with Congressman McIntyre taking money from every special...

My conclusion: this guy is a heat-seeking missile aimed straight at Barack Obama

Did Scott Brown's election signal that a GOP victory wave is on the way?Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) Sworn in...FINALLY! Vice President Joe Biden, right, reenacts the swearing in of Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass. , left, as Brown's wife Gail Huff holds the family bibles, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010,in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington. Earlier, Brown was sworn in on the floor of the Senate. Can GOP Take the Senate?Even in the days following Brown's election, Larry Sabato, one of the best political analysts, predicted the GOP would make only a further 3-5 seat gain in November;...

Senator-elect Scott Brown left his Wrentham home today, en route to Washington, D.C., to be sworn in to office. He was officially certified this morning in a brief procedural hearing at the State House. Brown is expected to be sworn in around 5 p.m. today by Vice President Joe Biden. The Globe photographers followed him...

f 2010 proves to be a “wave” election for the GOP, conservatives can expect more than a few half-as-much Republicans to sweep into Congress. What’s a half-as-much Republican? One who’s willing to do half as much as liberals on big government initiatives. Guys like John McCain and his sidekick, Lindsey Graham, for instance. Or Maine’s Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. Or departing Senator George Voinovich. But there’s an effective way to put half-as-much Republicans on notice: Read more at http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/no-more-half-as-much-republicans/

Last Friday, President Obama met with House Republicans in Baltimore. He took questions, parried criticisms, and allowed all of it to be put on television. Framed as an opportunity for the president to hear from the other side, Mr. Obama's real aim was to portray Republicans as obstructionist and boost his own public standing in the process. Afterward, Gallup found that Mr. Obama's approval hit 51%, up from 47% after the State of the Union address two days earlier. But in winning that small victory, Mr. Obama also further poisoned his relationship with Republicans by repeatedly saying things that are...

Still freshly motivated from their win in Massachusetts, Republicans are seeking out more candidates to challenge incumbent Democrats this year and have found a strong contender in former GOP Sen. Dan Coats. Coats will challenge the popular Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Republicans announced today, prompting political commentators to begin speculating over whether the GOP could pull a huge upset this year and take over the Senate. Counting the two independents who vote with them, Democrats will outnumber Republicans in the Senate 59 to 41 once Scott Brown is sworn in, and by all accounts it would be a long...

Angleton and Brazosport Republican Women’s clubs held a political forum this past weekend and invited all candidates for the upcoming elections to speak. Ron Paul chose not to attend, but Bruce Bolock asked to speak for Mr. Paul at the meeting (Mr. Bolock is the leader of the Brazoria County Campaign for Liberty… ie -Ron Paul’s political group). This request was denied because the floor was only open to candidates who were present. Although visibly angry, Mr. Bolock did not protest for long. Members of my family actually have had personal experience with the less than cordial attitude of Mr....

Here's a great one for you - Obama's blaming the Republicans for the miserable year of failure that 2009 was for the Democrat agenda. Perhaps someone should explain to Obama, whose party has had a decisive majority in the House, and a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate for the past year, that it was Democrats that stopped the Democrat agenda from steamrolling America like they planned. The Republicans didn't have the firepower. Besides, IMO, this is all a thinly veiled attack on those Obama sees as REALLY responsible for his failure - the American people.

As it turns out, Senate Democrats may not be able to force healthcare legislation through the chamber on a simple majority vote. Republicans say they have found a loophole in the budget reconciliation process that could allow them to offer an indefinite number of amendments. Though it has never been done, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says he’s prepared to test the Senate’s stamina to block the Democrats from using the process to expedite changes to the healthcare bill.

Interesting to see how the "Scott Heard Round The World" is already affecting the run-up to elections in NYC. See this mention about the Conservative Party meeting having its biggest turnout ever: http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=834&catid=126

The long-shot bid by Republicans to retake control of the Senate is suddenly in play, as the prospect of high-profile Republican candidates entering the fray has pushed the GOP even or ahead in polling for 10 races. The potential candidacies of former Republican Govs. George E. Pataki in New York and Tommy G. Thompson in Wisconsin are improving the polling fortunes of the party as it pursues seats long in the hands of Democrats, while the anti-government "tea party" movement has provided momentum to Republican challengers in states such as Florida, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. "If the election were held today,...

Rick Sanchez defended Obama's budget on CNN Monday. He was attempting to methodically debunk Republican claims about Obama budgets, arguing that most of the trillions in spending came on Republicans' watch and Obama just added a little bit. He started by claiming that Obama came into office facing a $1.2 trillion budget. Obama makes the same claim. Actually, the deficit for 2008, Bush's last year in office, was $459 billion. Bush does share responsibility for TARP though, so one could say that Obama was only partially responsible for 2009's deficit, even though his proposals added $787 billion in new spending...

There has been all sorts of craziness leading up to Sarah’s upcoming appearance at the first annual National Tea Party Convention in Nashville. All kinds of lies, rumors, accusations, and so on...

Emboldened by the response to President Obama’s face-off with House Republicans last week, the White House is intensifying its push to engage Congressional Republicans in policy negotiations as a way to share the burden of governing and put more scrutiny on Republican initiatives. Top aides say Mr. Obama intends to follow through quickly on his State of the Union proposal for bipartisan White House brainstorming sessions. Republicans will also be invited to the White House this weekend to watch the Super Bowl, as well as to Camp David and other venues for social visits. The outreach represents a marked shift...

Emboldened by the response to President Obama’s face-off with House Republicans last week, the White House is intensifying its push to engage Congressional Republicans in policy negotiations as a way to share the burden of governing and put more scrutiny on Republican initiatives. Top aides say Mr. Obama intends to follow through quickly on his State of the Union proposal for bipartisan White House brainstorming sessions. Republicans will also be invited to the White House this weekend to watch the Super Bowl, as well as to Camp David and other venues for social visits. The outreach represents a marked shift...

THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT Brown's Campaign Buoyed By Tea Party The Group's Members 'Want To Know Who's Next,' Says One Local Leader In Massachusetts by Neil MunroTuesday, Feb. 2, 2010 Tea Party activists claim some credit for Scott Brown's Senate upset in Massachusetts, and there's good evidence that the decentralized movement played an important, albeit indirect, role.Way back last April 15, Brown courted the movement by appearing at two anti-tax Tea Party events. "I've been up there for 11 years, and I've never voted for one tax increase.... You have to hold your legislators accountable," he told the crowd at...

INDIANAPOLIS - Informed and reliable sources are telling Howey Politics Indiana that former U.S. Sen. Dan Coats will announce Wednesday he will challenge U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh. The source, former aide Curt Smith of the Indiana Family Institute, said that Coats knows he has about two weeks to gather the 4,500 signatures - 500 per Congressional district - in two weeks. Coats was up for re-election in 1998 when he decided to retire, citing the pressures of constant fundraising. Bayh went on that year to defeat former Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke to reclaim his father's Senate seat. Coats was...

State Senate speaker and gubernatorial candidate Ron Ramsey said Tuesday he doesn't know whether President Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen, but that it's not an issue that voters care about. Ramsey was asked after a speech to a Republican group about his views on the president's citizenship by Maclin Davis, a former state lawmaker and attorney for the state GOP. "I don't know whether President Obama is a citizen of the United States or not," Ramsey responded. "I don't know what the whole deal is there. "But I'm going to tell you something. When you walk out on the...

In assessing the potential success of possible conservative Presidential candidates in 2012 it is important to include a few familiar names who many believe to be long shots at best. Among these are Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain. McCain's troubles with conservatives go back a long way, and many believe that his lack of aggressive campaigning against Obama's extremism is the main reason for his defeat in 2008. The addition of Palin to the ticket is the reason McCain did as well as he did. It was Palin who drew crowds that rivaled that of Obama.

NASHUA, N.H. – President Barack Obama branded Republicans on Tuesday as electoral opportunists more concerned about their own interests than the people's, taking a political risk by escalating criticism of the very lawmakers he's urging to work with him. The newly combative approach is a double-edged sword for Obama. Fearful of losses in the November congressional and gubernatorial elections, Democrats have been urging Obama to throw tougher punches at Republicans. Those calls grew louder after the Democrats' stunning loss two weeks ago of a Senate seat in Massachusetts, seen as an indictment of Democratic control over Congress and the White...

Let's get a feel where we are as freepers. It's not too early to be thinking about it either. The race has already begun. Judging by thier activities , so far here is a list of those running or thinking of running. Huckabee Romney Palin Pawlenty Gingrich Barbour