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GOP Thwarted; Rangel Escapes With His JobBut Damage Is Done To Congressman As Dems Powerless To Stop Laundry List Of Allegations Made For 30 Minutes Rep. Carter Lays Into Democrats Over Double Standard On Tax Charges Reporting Marcia Kramer Oct 7, 2009 5:19 pm US/Eastern WASHINGTON (CBS) - It was a showdown in Congress. Business came to a standstill on Wednesday as House Democrats and Republicans battled it out over whether to remove embattled Congressman Charles Rangel from his post of a powerful tax committee. Rangel is the fourth most senior member of the House, so it must have been...

Watching the House of Representatives on late-night C-SPAN, you might have any number of reactions, including seppuku-inducing boredom. Depending on who's talking, you might also feel disgust, rage, contempt or, in rare cases, inspiration. But one reaction you probably won't have is: "Gosh, if only there were more of these jokers." That's too bad. Because what our political system may be lacking more than anything else is enough members of Congress. No, really. Seriously, stop laughing. Except for a brief effort to accommodate Alaska and Hawaii, the size of the House has been frozen at 435 members since 1911.

House Working on Second Phony Compromise on Abortion in Health Care Washington, DC -- Members of the House of Representatives are working on a second phony compromise that would try to mitigate some of the concerns pro-life lawmakers and groups have about the abortion funding found in HR 3200, the main health care "reform" bill in the House. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5531.html

If such a ban were to become law, the Obama administration would be hard-pressed to close the Guantanamo Bay prison by January as President Obama has promised. WASHINGTON -- The House went on record Thursday against allowing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba to be transferred to the United States, even to face trial or to be jailed in maximum-security prisons. The 258-163 vote on a nonbinding recommendation put Democrats controlling the House in a difficult spot and prompted senior lawmakers to postpone unveiling a House-Senate agreement on a homeland security funding bill. If such a ban were...

Senior White House officials have begun to make the case for a policy shift in Afghanistan that would send few, if any, new combat troops to the country and instead focus on faster military training of Afghan forces, continued assassinations of al-Qaeda leaders and support for the government of neighboring Pakistan in its fight against the Taliban. In a three-hour meeting Wednesday at the White House, senior advisers challenged some of the key assumptions in Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's blunt assessment of the nearly eight-year-old war, which President Obama has said is being fought to destroy al-Qaeda and its allies...

The official White House blog slammed Glenn Beck today, accusing the host of displaying a "disregard for the facts in an attempt to smear the Administration's efforts to win the Olympics for the United States." Last night, the conservative firebrand attacked the President for lobbying hard to get the 2016 Olympics to come to Chicago. Today, the White House released a point by point rebuttal of some of Beck's statements. Here's an example from the post, which is titled, "Trying to Turn a Point of Pride into a Moment of Shame":

TORONTO (Reuters) - The White House is expected to exempt Canada from a provision in the U.S. stimulus package that gives priority to American-made products used in public works projects, CBC News reported on Tuesday. In return Ottawa will offer U.S. companies guaranteed access to procurement contracts awarded by provincial and municipal governments, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported on its website, citing Canadian government sources.

Obama Administration to Push for Tough New Economic Sanctions if Iran Doesn't Come Clean on Nuclear Plans The Obama administration is planning to push for new sanctions against Iran, targeting its energy, financial and telecommunications sectors if it does not comply with international demands to come clean about its nuclear program, according to U.S. officials. The officials said the U.S. would expand its own penalties against Iranian companies and press for greater international sanctions against foreign firms, largely European, that do business in the country unless Iran can prove that its nuclear activities are not aimed at developing an atomic...

Rep. John Carter (R-Tx), a member of the GOP House Leadership and a former judge, informed us in a blogger conference call that he will be hosting a virtual townhall tonight at 7:30 p.m. Eastern and will be taking questions from members of the public. CSPAN will broadcast floor speeches covering the status of certain legislation on issues such as ACORN hearings, Obama's Czars, auditing the Federal Reserve, and the Democrat abuses in running the House of Representatives. After that, Rep. Carter will return to his office, fire up the web-cam and take questions from the public by email or...

Rep. John Carter (R-Tx), a member of the GOP House Leadership and a former judge, informed us in a blogger conference call that he will be hosting a virtual townhall tonight at 7:30 p.m. Eastern and will be taking questions from members of the public. CSPAN will broadcast floor speeches covering the status of certain legislation on issues such as ACORN hearings, Obama's Czars, auditing the Federal Reserve, and the Democrat abuses in running the House of Representatives. After that, Rep. Carter will return to his office, fire up the web-cam and take questions from the public by email or...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is close to selecting a location on U.S. soil to house some detainees from the controversial American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an administration official said on Saturday. President Barack Obama has pledged to close the facility, which has been the target of international condemnation, by January 2010 but has faced legal, political and diplomatic difficulties that could make it hard to meet that deadline.

All but 11 Democrats voted for the plan, and 177 Republicans voted against it. The 244-to-188 vote came a day after Mr. Obama traveled to Capitol Hill to seek Republican backing, if not for the package then on other issues to come. Mr. Obama, in a statement hailing the House passage of the plan, did not take note of the partisan divide but signaled that he expected changes to be made in the Senate that might attract support. “I hope that we can continue to strengthen this plan before it gets to my desk,” he said. “But what we can’t...

PHILIP ELLIOTT (AP) - Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON White House officials told agencies across the government Tuesday they should take care to avoid even the appearance that politics played a part in the award of federal grants. The advisory came in response to an embarrassing incident last month in which a National Endowment for the Arts official asked artists on a conference call to coordinate with the Corporation for Public Service on ways to help bolster President Barack Obama's public service agenda

Congressional leaders are discussing whether to stay home an extra week in November because of Veterans' Day. Veterans’ Day falls on a Wednesday (Nov. 11) this year, so if Congress stayed in, lawmakers would have to leave and return to Washington to finish out the week. Many members prefer being in their districts for Veterans' Day observances. "It's a lot of travel time. We are considering whether it makes any sense to be in session that week," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). "I'm going to be talking to [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid (D-Nev.) about that." But that...

There are seven words that you can’t say on television, that’s the old George Carlin comedy shtick. And apparently there are six things that Congressman and women can’t do in the House they are the following: • call the President a “liar.” • call the President a “hypocrite.” • describe the President’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.” • charge that the President has been “intellectually dishonest.” • refer to the President as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.” • refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the President’s part.” Even if some or all of the above is true...

House Passes Student Loan OverhaulSept. 17, 2009 WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The U.S. House approved legislation that would overhaul the student loan market by setting up the federal government as the lone provider of college loans. The House vote was 253-to-171, largely along party lines, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the legislation, private lenders would be blocked from the market for originating loans, but private banks and lenders still would be able to bid for a limited number of contracts to service loans after they are made by the government. The bill is another plank of the ambitious domestic agenda...

WASHINGTON — The House has voted in favor of the biggest overhaul of college aid programs since their creation in the 1960s — a bill to oust private lenders from the student loan business and put the government in charge. Thursday's vote was 253-171 in favor of a bill that fulfills an array of President Barack Obama's campaign promises, ending subsidies for private lenders, boosting Pell Grants for needy students and paying for community college reforms, among other things.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is announcing $25 million in grants to states and health care systems to launch a national experiment on alternatives to medical malpractice lawsuits. The grants will be up to $3 million each for three years. They can be used to examine a broad range of ideas, including programs in which doctors and hospitals quickly acknowledge a mistake, offer an apology and restitution, and pledge to take corrective action.

Should U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., be formally admonished in the House for yelling "You lie!" during President Obama's speech last week? Yes 37.9% No 62.1% Total votes: 823

WASHINGTON – The House has voted to admonish Rep. Joe Wilson over his "You lie" outburst to President Barack Obama during the president's health care speech to Congress last week. The 240-179 vote on the resolution of disapproval reflected the sharp partisan divide over the issue. Democrats insisted that the South Carolina Republican take responsibility for what they said was a serious breach of decorum. Republicans characterized the vote as a political stunt.

The Senate has already voted to cut funding to ACORN, 83-7 with the 7 "nay" votes coming from Democrats. Now the GOP is calling on the House to take up the issue. Congress Voting To Defund ACORN 84rules September 15, 2009

'You Lie!' Shout Brings Vote on SanctionRacial Issue Simmers as Black Democrats Lead Push Against Wilson By Paul Kane Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, September 15, 2009 House Democrats plan to formally reprimand Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) on Tuesday for his outburst last week in which he accused President Obama of lying about proposed health-care legislation. The vote on punishment will resolve the issue in the House, but behind the incident some see a broader question: Is racism a factor in the way the president is being judged? With two simple words -- "You lie!" -- shouted during Obama's speech...

DENVER – He bought his first home, spent $30,000 fixing it up, and now, six months later, Jonathon Kyte has learned the home doesn't belong to him. According to the City and County of Denver, Jonathon owns the dump, next door. He found out about the mistake almost by accident when he received a map which showed the unit he's living is actually unit No. 4. "I froze. My wife and I were just speechless," Kyte said. Kyte owns the deed and title to unit No. 5. Jonathon blames the Coldwell Banker listing agent for the mistake. She marketed the...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has agreed the House should vote next week on scolding Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for his outburst during President Barack Obama's speech unless he apologies on the floor of the House. "There was a violation of the rules of the House," said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly. "It needs to be resolved by an apology or a resolution." A Democrat will introduce a "resolution of disapproval" Monday or Tuesday unless Wilson formally apologizes on the House floor. The House returns Monday. Wilson shouted "You lie!" Wednesday night during Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress, after Obama...

A new report that for the first time gauges the impact of health care reform two decades out shows the nation's budget imbalance would skyrocket after 2020. The House bill would increase the budget deficit by $1 trillion between 2020 to 2029, up from $39 billion from 2010 through 2019, says the Peterson Foundation study, conducted by the nonpartisan Lewin Group. For "health care reform to be fiscally responsible, it must not just pay for itself over 10 years and beyond, it should also result in a significant reduction in the tens of trillions of dollars in the federal government's...

This is a great day! New York State’s first 9/12 Candidate has already been attracting attention, and this announcement is the result of him attracting our attention. Aaron Blake, a contributor for “The Hill” recently wrote: Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman is beginning to look like he might be a force in the upcoming New York special election. DeRoy Murdock of the “Washington Times” had this to say: Appropriately for a Lake Placid resident, Mr. Hoffman is rather low-key and soft-spoken. However, his voice urgently rises when he addresses the ways in which Washington pins down so many of his...

After a nearly 40-day recess that was anything but restful, House Democrats are returning to work Tuesday still unsettled over pending health-care legislation and sure only that the people have had their say. They are in almost the exact position they were in when they left the Capitol in late July. Conservatives are still leery of supporting a government-funded, or public, insurance option. Freshman lawmakers from suburban districts remain fearful of increasing taxes for their wealthy constituents to pay for the new measure and await alternatives from moderate Senate Democrats. And progressives, who are demanding the most far-reaching reform since...

A Pennsylvania history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home. Fifty-four-year-old William Maser fired a cannonball Wednesday evening outside his home in Georges Township that ricocheted and hit a house 400 yards away. The cannonball, about two inches in diameter, smashed through a window and a wall before landing in a closet. Authorities say nobody was hurt.

House Liberals Write Directly To Obama: No Public Option, No Support In a letter delivered to the White House moments ago, the two leaders of the bloc of House progressives bluntly told President Obama that they will not support any health care plan without a public option in it — and demanded a meeting to inform him face to face. The not-yet-released letter — the first joint statement from progressives since news emerged that Obama might not address the public option in next week’s speech — is their sharpest challenge yet to the president, given the extraordinary sensitivity of this...

FOR POLITICIANS with major bad news to release or to make public, there's no time like the dead of August to do it. The thinking goes that the public won't remember a thing come September. We hope Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) will have no such luck. His belated revelation of previously unreported income, property and bank accounts demands that he step aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Rangel's amended financial disclosure form, which exposes omissions from his 2002 through 2006 records, is a treasure trove of outrage. He neglected to report a checking account...

Until three weeks ago if you called congress and put on hold, you would be able to enjoy some nice patriotic tunes. But with the congressional break, Speaker Pelosi directed that the patriotic music changed with elevator-style Jazz drivel. of generic smooth jazz that have been driving elevator users insane for decades. Earlier this week Michigan Congressman Fred Upton sent a letter to the House Chief Administrative Officer (who reports to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi), this to protest this decision:

Here is video of the "Political Grapevine" in which one of the stories was about the House of Representatives restoring patriotic music to their telephone waiting system. The music had been changed to a "smooth jazz" by the House Chief Administrative Officer, who reports to Nancy Pelosi. But they got so much negative feedback, they abruptly restored the patriotic music. The part about this story starts at 56 seconds left (if you want to skip the other). (Watch Video)

House Reverses Decision to Drop Patriotic Songs From On-Hold Music A spokesman for House Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Beard says that after a three-week trial period constituents will once again hear patriotic favorites while on hold -- after the House temporarily switched over to smooth jazz. Tuesday, September 01, 2009 So long, John Philip Sousa. Hello, Kenny G. That was the short-lived message House leadership sent to lawmakers over the break, as the "on-hold" music that so many constituents hear when they call their congressman was switched from patriotic tunes to smooth jazz standards -- or, as one lawmaker complained,...

"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov." The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) and the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE) have filed suit in...

The White House on Monday fired back after former Vice President Dick Cheney called the Obama administration's decision to open a probe into alleged CIA abuses an "outrageous political act." White House Press Secretary Roberts Gibbs broadly dismissed Cheney's comments on "FOX News Sunday" as typical and unfounded.

RANGEL UNTANGLEDC DEMS MOVE TO SAVE HIM By GINGER ADAMS OTIS Last updated: 3:37 am August 30, 2009 House Democrats are willing to rally around Rep. Charles Rangel in his latest spate of tax missteps -- but only as long as no more embarrassing revelations come to light, sources told The Post. The head of the powerful Ways and Means Committee last week amended six years' worth of financial disclosure forms and revealed he'd earned $1.3 million in previously unreported income. That's on top of ongoing House Ethics Committee probes into four other areas of Rangel's financial past -- including...

Washington, DC -- The Wall St. Journal is the latest mainstream media outlet to confirm what pro-life advocates have been saying for months. It has acknowledged that the House version of the government-run health care plan allows for taxpayer financing of abortions.

A month after they voted to punish some corporate executives for taking hefty bonus payouts, members of the House of Representatives quietly gave their own staffers a new potential bonus by making even their top-earning aides eligible for taxpayer dollars to repay their student loans. The change, which took effect in May, means House employees earning up to $168,411, or the top level, are now eligible for government-funded subsidies to help pay down their student loans. House officials defend the change as a job-related benefit necessary to keep the government competitive in the hiring market - the same argument corporate...

A month after they voted to punish some corporate executives for taking hefty bonus payouts, members of the House of Representatives quietly gave their own staffers a new potential bonus by making even their top-earning aides eligible for taxpayer dollars to repay their student loans. The change, which took effect in May, means House employees earning up to $168,411, or the top level, are now eligible for government-funded subsidies to help pay down their student loans.

Key Dems' Ethical Clouds Could Haunt PelosiBy Jay Newton-Small/Washington Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009 One of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's favorite boasts is that she "cleaned out the swamp of Washington," a none too subtle swipe at what she calls the G.O.P.'s "culture of corruption"... **SNIP** According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a congressional watchdog group, 15 lawmakers are currently under investigation for allegedly violating ethical standards. Of those four are Republicans and 11 are Democrats. That doesn't even include former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson, who was recently found guilty of 11 of 16 charges of corruption. But...

Miss. Democrat Childers opposes House health billUpdated: Aug 18, 2009 10:06 PM EDT JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Democratic U.S. Rep. Travis Childers says he would not vote for a House health care reform bill in its current form. The north Mississippi freshman told more than 7,200 listeners during a town hall teleconference Tuesday night that private insurance companies should compete for business to decrease health costs. Childers said companies should stop denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. He said he wants to see details before deciding whether he'd support a mandate for all Americans to have some type of...

House E-Mail System Overloaded by Healthcare MessagesUpdated: 2:40 PM Aug 16, 2009 Reporter: Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Amid a boisterous debate on health care reform, people flooded members of Congress on Thursday with so many e-mails that they overloaded the House's primary Web site. **SNIP** A spokesman for Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, said e-mail traffic related to health care has exploded in recent weeks. Sean Brown said the office has received 2,761 e-mails on the subject since the debate heated up five weeks ago. In the five weeks before that, the office received 368 health care-related e-mails. He...

Two freshly elected Democrats are wavering in their support of healthcare reform, as a rancorous summer series of “town hall” debates appears to be ­hardening opposition against the Obama administration. Frank Kratovil and Tom Perriello, who as freshmen congressmen would be expected to back the party leadership, both say proposals for expanding coverage to the uninsured are un­acceptable in their current form and should focus more on cost savings. Mr Kratovil, who was hanged in effigy by a healthcare protester at a town hall meeting in his state of Maryland, said he would have voted against legislation if it had...

Facing a barrage of questions Wednesday over the friendliness of the audience at President Obama's New Hampshire town hall meeting, the White House insisted that all questions were selected at random -- including one from an 11-year-old girl whose mother worked as an Obama organizer. Julia Hall of Malden, Mass., grabbed the microphone Tuesday during Obama's town hall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., and told the president she saw signs "outside saying mean things about reforming health care" as she walked into the building.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Facing controversy over a plan to use taxpayer money to purchase new aircraft for the U.S. government officials, the House of Representatives said late Monday that it would cut back its spending plans by more than $100 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's national security adviser did not rule adding more U.S. forces in Afghanistan to help turn around a war that he said on Sunday is not now in crisis. James Jones, a retired Marine general with experience in Afghanistan, said the United States will know "by the end of next year" whether the revamped war plan Obama announced in March is taking hold. The administration is redefining how it will measure progress, with new benchmarks that reflect a redrawn strategy. An outline is expected next month.

August, 2009 FOX has annouced that its popular show HOUSE will be canceled and will not have its 2009 season televised as planned. Due to Obamacare restrictions, delays, rationing and age-to-benefit studies, the show simply can't be done. Writers & producers have concluded that each episode would take 10-20 times longer while necessary medical tests, needed to move the plot/story line, have now become unavailable. Episodes dealing with elderly patients were scrapped as their stories constantly ended with either pain pill overdoses or euthanasia. Episodes involving unborn children with defects/complications were constantly ending with an abortions. There were also too...

New York congresswoman Carolyn Maloney issued a statement Friday saying she will not challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the 2010 Democratic Senate primary. Maloney said she will stay in the House of Representatives and wants to spend her time working on health care reform and other issues instead of running a Senate campaign. She had said she was considering a run earlier this year. I make this decision, not because I fear a tough political fight, but because I love one," Maloney said in the statement. "In this Congress, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to enact meaningful...

Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure. Page 29: First reference to rationing Page 30: The Health Benefits Advisory Committee will be created to monitor and recommend health care treatments and benefits Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with health insurance.

Top White House aides gave Senate Democrats a recess battle plan on Thursday, arming the lawmakers with tips for avoiding disastrous town hall meetings while showing them polling on popular aspects of the reform effort. Senior White House adviser David Axelrod and deputy chief of staff Jim Messina told senators to focus on the insured and how they would benefit from “consumer protections" in the overhaul, such as ending the practice of denying insurance based on preexisting conditions and ensuring the continuity of coverage between jobs. They showed video clips of the confrontational town halls that have dominated the media...