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Feingold rips Pelosi for willingness to consider entitlement cutsBy Russell Berman - 05/03/12 04:24 PM ET A liberal stalwart is making a surprise attack on Nancy Pelosi, accusing the House minority leader of signaling “a disturbing potential willingness” to slash entitlement programs that Democrats consider sacred. Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) on Thursday sent out an email through his Progressives United advocacy group criticizing Pelosi for saying she would support the Simpson-Bowles deficit plan, which called for using cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to close the nation’s budget gap. “Recently, Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has signaled a...

Yesterday on Laura IngrahamÂ’s radio show, she asked Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell about a recent Roll Call article that framed me as one of the loud leaders of conservatives opposed to Mitch McConnell. The Senator from Kentucky responded that he had never heard of me and I did not have an audience. That sounds a bit like the child, when asked if he ate the cookie, replying that he had not and besides it did not taste good. If heÂ’d never heard of me, how can he comment on my audience? If he states plainly I have no audience,...

Russ Feingold is going back to law school. The former U.S. senator, defeated by incoming senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in his bid for a fourth term, plans to join the Marquette University Law School faculty as a visiting professor or law. Feingold will join the faculty beginning with the spring semester, the school announced Wednesday. "Senator Feingold joins Marquette Law School with a substantial academic, legal and legislative background," said Joseph D. Kearney, Marquette's dean. "He will draw on all of this in working with students in their analysis of some of the most complex legal issues facing our nation...

_resident Obama's $858 billion tax package won a huge bipartisan majority in the Senate Monday evening, setting it up for a contentious debate in the House. In a 83-15 vote, the Senate quashed a filibuster by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Va.). Fifteen lawmakers voted against it, including five Republicans: Sens. Tom Coburn (Okla.), Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), John Ensign (Nev.) and George Voinovich (Ohio). Nine Democrats and one independent voted against the bill: Sens. Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Russ Feingold (Wis.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Pat Leahy (Vt.), Carl Levin (Mich.), Mark...

John McCain said a reluctant goodbye to his longtime Senate colleague and “true friend” Russ Feingold on Tuesday. “I have to confess I think the Senate will be a much poorer place without Russ Feingold in it,” McCain said in a floor speech.

This guy has the lead touch. Next time your liberal friends tell you what a great leader Obama is, just point to what happened in Asia last week. One of the main purposes of the Asia trip was to sign a free-trade agreement with South Korea. The deal had already been fully negotiated (under Bush), was all set to go, it just needed the President's signature. So what does Know-It-All do? He tries to renegotiate the terms to be more friendly to his union buddies back home. End result? Talks collapse, no trade deal. Obama heads home empty-handed - again....

Russ Feingold has spent 18 years on the fringes of the Senate Democratic Caucus and one very hard year here in his home state, running the opposite of this year’s standard-issue Democratic campaign. But Feingold appears on the brink of going down in a national tide that’s blind to distinction. Infuriatingly to the Wisconsin Democrat, he’s been painted not as a leftist but as, of all things, a Washington insider. He’s been forced to defend a claim to independence that he feels is self-evident – “A guy did his doctorate at Princeton on this,” he says indignantly – against an...

The National Football League’s political action committee—Gridiron PAC—has weighed in on the hotly contested U.S. Senate election in Nevada that pits conservative Republican challenger Sharron Angle against Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. The PAC has given $10,000 to Reid—the maximum it can give in a single election cycle—and no money to Angle, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled by OpenSecrets.org. The NFL’s PAC also contributed to other incumbent Democratic senators facing viable challengers this year, giving $5,000 to Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas; $5,000 to Russ Feingold of Wisconsin; $5,000 to Barbara Boxer of California; $5,000 to Michael Bennet of...

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on Friday asked Democrats to provide more donations to his colleagues, warning that several of his fellow Democratic senators could end up reprising the months-long recount that kept him from taking his Senate seat. Franken wrote in a fundraising e-mail for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) that some of his colleagues — like Sens. Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Russ Feingold (Wis.) or Patty Murray (Wash.) — could end up in races that are determined by just a few votes. "Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold, Patty Murray: Any of these great Democrats could end up in a race...

A new poll suggests that Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin is fighting for his political life. A CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday indicates that the three-term Democratic senator trails businessman Ron Johnson, the Republican nominee Senate nominee, 52 to 44 percent among likely voters in Wisconsin. Johnson's eight point lead is up from a five point advantage in mid September.

The Wisconsin Senate race between incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold and Republican challenger Ron Johnson may be, in part, a referendum on the future of high-speed rail in America. The battle over a proposed high-speed rail line that would connect a scant 70 miles between Wisconsin’s two largest cities and be funded by $810 million in federal stimulus money has become symbolic of the political cage match for one of Wisconsin’s Senate seats this November...the fevered debate over high-speed rail in Wisconsin could well determine the outcome of Wisconsin’s Senate battle, which could in turn determine the fate of high-speed rail...

Down in the polls in his bid for a fourth term, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has decided he is going to hit Republican opponent Ron Johnson where it hurts: calling into question his support for Wisconsin’s own Green Bay Packers. In a new 30-second ad, Feingold’s campaign shows images of pro football endzone celebrations, including one where then-Minnesota Vikings’ Randy Moss is dancing and pretending to moon the audience to boos from the crowd.

Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin boldly embraces and defends his vote for the health care reform law in his latest campaign television ad, even as other Democrats avoid the topic and Republicans rail against it. Feingold’s Republican opponent, Ron Johnson, has his own ad taking Feingold to task for the March vote, saying Feingold went against the wishes of Wisconsin residents. While other candidates have defended aspects of the health care law, most Democrats have shied away from it on the campaign trail as polls reflect voter concern about the scope and expense of the reforms. President Barack Obama, with...

New PPP results for dkos, will post tomorrow -- Feingold down by double digits, MASSIVE intensity gap. W/o gap, it'd be tied race.

After a decisive win in Tuesday’s Republican Primary, businessman Ron Johnson now holds a seven-point lead over incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold in Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Johnson picking up 51% support, while Feingold earns the vote from 44%. One percent (1%) of voters prefer some other candidate, and four percent (4%) remain undecided.

A recurring rubric at James Taranto's Best of the Web Today column at the Wall Street Journal online, is "We Blame George W. Bush," for tongue-in-cheek examples of the former prez being blamed for things palpably beyond his purview. Let's add another one to the list. Dem senator Russ Feingold has blamed his tough re-election race on, yes, W. Let's think about that. If Bush were such a bad president. If his policies were so disastrous for the country. Wouldn't that boost the chances of an incumbent Dem senator who, like Feingold, had voted against Bush policies every step along...

Here is video of a great new ad for GOP Wisconsin U.S. Senate Candidate – Ron Johnson, who is opposing incumbent Democrat Sen. Russ Feingold. It is clear Johnson has decided on the perfect theme for Feingold to draw the stark contrast with himself. In the ad, Johnson calls Feingold a “career politician” who believes government creates jobs and knows best. By way of contrast, Johnson points out that he spent 30 years building a business and creating jobs. It closes on a hopeful note, with Johnson saying “we can bring America back.” Outstanding ad!

Sen. Russ Feingold is trying to sneak into legislation that would expand the definition of "children" under a program called CHAMPVA from people age 23 or below to age 26 and below a ban on spending money to return astronauts to the Moon. The text of the legislation can be found in S. 3356, which has been referred to the Committee on Veterans Affairs and has no cosponsors as of this moment:

MILWAUKEE - Oshkosh-based businessman Ron Johnson is announcing his bid for U.S. Senate in Milwaukee. "After three terms, after 18 years, it's time for (incumbent Democrat) Russ Feingold to retire," Johnson said on 620WTMJ's "Midday with Charlie Sykes." The Republican candidate gained a lot of good will and attention from party members while speaking at a series of recent Tea Party rallies. Johnson was also set to make stops in Green Bay and Wausau on Monday.

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R-Wis.) is encouraged by polls showing him leading Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) in a hypothetical matchup. He hasn’t announced a 2010 Senate run but admits he’s spoken to the head of National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and several other senators about the possibility. “It’s a good year for me,” Thompson told The Hill. “The polls are good in Wisconsin and I haven’t even indicated” an intention to run.