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he Republican National Committee will announce Friday that it has sanctioned nine presidential primary debates, starting this August in Ohio and continuing through March 2016, with the potential to add a few more. The schedule will be rolled out at the party’s winter meeting here later this afternoon, but POLITICO obtained a first look at the line-up from insiders. Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/rnc-2016-debate-schedule-114329.html#ixzz3P0qSfxLm

On Tuesday, three Republican Senators joined three Democrats to introduce legislation that would expand the number of guest-workers for the tech industry even though there is a surplus of American high-tech workers. The Immigration Innovation (“I-Squared”) bill, introduced by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), would also enable companies to hire an unlimited number of workers with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions in science, technology, engineering and math, which critics have said would turn some universities into diploma factories for foreign students. Currently, the first 20,000...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took a swipe at Mitt Romney on Monday, saying that Republicans’ path to the presidency doesn’t cut through “the mushy middle.”

"....While he ended 2012 a scorned member of the Republican family, he has spent the past year a virtual kingmaker. His endorsement carried weight in the 2014-midterm primaries and he was a sought-after surrogate on the campaign stump. This “failed” nominee was so important to the GOP that his “ideas” summit,held last summer in Utah, drew the whole field of party luminaries and presidential contenders, from former running mate Rep. Paul Ryan to Sen. Rand Paul, Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Rob Portman, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee.[SNIP]With all of that said, however, I’m not sure if Romney is actually running...

Gas prices are the lowest they've been in five years — a welcome relief for many drivers. But now that fuel prices are falling, some lawmakers are talking in a serious way about raising the gas tax — Republican lawmakers. The debate is at an early stage, and it’s fair to say House conservatives will hate the idea. But a few powerful GOP senators are signaling they're open to the idea. Even House Speaker John Boehner, who personally opposes raising the gas tax, hasn't ruled it out. “Some Republicans in the Senate are speaking up,” says Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's...

Last June in the run up to a primary he was so sure he would win, former Obama water boy Eric Cantor didn’t bother to campaign. He had told his liars about being a warrior against illegal aliens polluting America and decided to merely wait in Washington for word of his victory. That didn’t happen. He was crushed by a TEA party candidate. When he got his head handed to him Cantor was shocked and acted contrite. That was his act then; but now free to be his real self he is taking some very different positions. As a Wall...

A coalition of 23 leaders in the conservative movement today urged Speaker John Boehner not to punish Republicans who voted against him for the House’s top job.Boehner, who removed two of those dissenters from the powerful Rules Committee after the speaker vote, is now rethinking the decision, according to Politico. A total of 25 Republicans did not vote for Boehner.>>>> The 25 Republicans Who Did Not Vote for John Boehner“It is unacceptable and disappointing to see that some conservatives are already being punished by you and your leadership team for disagreements over policy and the direction of the conference. This...

After 25 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives embarrassed Speaker John Boehner by voting against his re-election bid, the newly re-elected Boehner has begun to exact his revenge on those that opposed him. According to a Politico source, conservative House members Daniel Webster and Rich Nugent, both from Florida, will lose their spots on the highly coveted House Rules Committee.

ank-and-file Republicans are fuming at what they see as the heavy-handed tactics of Republican leaders, one day after a divisive vote that narrowly handed Speaker John Boehner the gavel for another term. Members who opposed Boehner on the floor are frustrated that two rebels have already been stripped of committee assignments, while the speaker's allies, angered by an embarrassingly close vote that played out on national television, warn darkly of more punishment to come. And some conservatives who backed Boehner complain that they are now facing a different kind of retribution—from the Right. (snip) Retribution is not being enacted simply...

"................McConnell took the Senate on the low road. He stood still at his desk, lips pursed, clearing his throat often, and reading a grim message. “Moment of great anxiety . . . lost faith in their government . . . no longer trust Washington . . . losing health plans after being told otherwise . . . rising medical costs . . . difficult just to get by . . . world filled with chaos . . . autocrats scoffing at a superpower that doesn’t seem to have a real plan.” “Confidence in the American dream has plunged,” McConnell said, pointing an index finger downward. “Anxiety about the type of country we leave to...

I think the vote for speaker demonstrates a clear need for having a well thought out process for choosing who is the leader concerning the house and senate and also a process that will remove the obvious blackmailing using campaign funds and committee assignments and committee chairmanships. Right now it is damned shame that is is ran almost like a Mafia family selecting it's leadership or union Boss "Card Check" election. Here is what needs to be done: Selecting the Speaker of the House, House Minority leader, Senate Majority/minority leader. 1. Once the House/Senate members are seated a member may...

“I’ve emphatically shared my disagreements with House Speaker John Boehner. As one of the leading conservative Members of this body, I opposed the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that did nothing to block President Obama’s unilateral amnesty order, I fought for tougher stances on out-of-control spending, government regulation and ObamaCare, and I refused to vote for a watered down NSA spying bill, amongst myriad other initiatives – most of which unilaterally were ignored by the Democrat-controlled Senate. But the 2014 elections just changed this equation. This is not a choice about who is the most conservative. It’s a choice about...

If you took the over on 19 votes, you won! There were 25 defectors on the Speaker, a number tantalizingly close to the 29 they needed. But then, that makes sense:

Updated, 1:10 p.m. | The 114th Congress is barely underway, but Randy Weber, R-Texas, says he’s already paying a price for making known his intentions to vote against another term in leadership for Speaker John A. Boehner. Weber, who is backing the long-shot speakership bid of fellow Texan Rep. Louie Gohmert over Boehner, has been removed as the lead sponsor of a nuclear energy bill expected to brought to the floor in the 114th. During a small meeting Tuesday of about 10 members of the Texas delegation to discuss the speaker’s race, Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas,...

“Today is tomorrow; there are no more tomorrows,” I learned that express in the Marine Corps many years ago. It reminded us that some days bring us to decisive points in history. In terms of the future of the Republican Party “Today is tomorrow,” and what a small band of men and women do this morning will determine whether we as a nation can continue to have a true two Party political system or not. The stage for this crucial moment in history has been set by the fecklessness of the current Speaker John Boehner and his cohorts in leadership...

Boehner’s opposition grew Tuesday morning just a few hours before the vote... ...At least 12 House Democrats will be in Manhattan attending Mario Cuomo’s funeral Tuesday in Manhattan. Another “handful” of Democrats are already planning to skip the vote, and that number could grow much larger, according to Democratic insiders. But every Democrat who skips the speaker vote helps lower the threshold for Boehner to be reelected. Air travel is already slowed as well. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is holding aircraft at their destination until 10 a.m., and is experiencing delays of between 15 and 30 minutes for flights...

From 1910 to 1943, it was fairly common for some members of the Republican Party to vote for somebody for Speaker of the House other than the choice of the conference. Progressive Republicans initially joined with Democrats in rebellion against the autocratic Joe Cannon, and the habit stuck. And in every Speaker’s election during that time, up to 11 members would cast their votes for a person other than the two candidates put forward by the two major parties. ADVERTISEMENT That habit died in 1945, and from the close of World War II to the close of the Cold War,...

"....................All this tells a considerable amount about what passes for the unremarkable inside the Washington establishment. For Feehery spends his time continually attacking conservatives. There was this open letter attack on Rush Limbaugh in Politico in which he snarked:Congratulations! You have been selected by the Obama administration, the mainstream media and 20 million of your most passionate followers to be the new head of the Republican Party.As such, you are given all the rights and responsibilities that come with being a true political leader.Your mission is simple: Restore the Republican Party to its former greatness by single-handedly helping Republicans to...

A national poll of GOP voters supervised by Caddell Associates, Pat Caddell’s outfit, presented the following findings yesterday regarding tomorrow’s full House vote for the speaker position: Only a quarter of GOP voters think [John] Boehner and [Mitch] McConnell should remain Speaker and Majority Leader. Three-fifths want someone new rather than Speaker Boehner and almost half want someone new rather than Leader McConnell. As of now this finding has received scant media attention. It deserves more. The Daily Signal broke Caddell’s poll but somewhat buried that lede; Drudge linked the Daily Signal article halfway down his site. Otherwise, I see...

The supposedly routine reelection of House Speaker John Boehner is becoming a dramatic repeat of the GOP’s December split over immigration, where the party’s populist base was jammed by the business-backed leadership. By mid-Monday, at least 10 defectors said they will vote against Boehner for speaker. A new poll was released showing overwhelming opposition to GOP leaders funding President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty. And the House switchboard was jammed by Republicans who are urging their members to vote against Boehner. The Daily Caller was on hold for 25 minutes, but the switchboard operator did not answer the phone. Boehner needs...