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Two months after a sweeping victory in the midterm elections, Republicans officially reclaim the House of Representatives on Wednesday. But before the new majority party begins the business of governing - which they don't even really get down to until the end of the month - they will take the opportunity to savor their triumph and make a statement with a good dose of Washington political theater. At about noon, the House clerk will call the chamber to order. After reciting a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, the members will elect Rep. John Boehner as Speaker. The Ohioan...

One of the modern day dynamics of the House Speaker transition between Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner is the handing over of something much more far-reaching than the Speaker’s gavel: the “Speaker” handle on Twitter.Late Tuesday evening, hours before the Wednesday kick-off of the 112th Congress, Rep. Pelosi dutifully ceded the use of @SpeakerPelosi in exchange for @NancyPelosi. Meanwhile, @JohnBoehner remains to be actively used by the entering Speaker (he also used @GOPLeader, but that account has been handed over to Majority Leader-elect Eric Cantor), while @SpeakerBoehner appears to be locked for eventual use by the Ohio congressman became the...

Hope for America, finally...

Health Reform: A date's been set for the attempted repeal of the greatest federal control of our lives, and even our deaths, perhaps ever. Senate Democrats say over their dead political bodies. Game on. You could call this GOP Congress a death panel for Obama-Care itself. The decision to pull the political plug has been made and the date is set. The text of the repeal bill is already online, at rules-republicans.house.gov. Putting key bills online before they were voted on is something President Obama and the Democrats promised but never did. The attempt may be futile — the Democrats...

CORPUS CHRISTI — Gov. Rick Perry will certify results Thursday of the 27th Congressional District election recount. The complete results, released Monday by the Secretary of State’s office, showed U.S. Rep.-elect Blake Farenthold receiving 51,001 votes, 775 more votes than incumbent U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz. Election returns showed Farenthold beating Ortiz by 792 votes. Libertarian candidate Ed Mishou received 5,372 votes, according to the Secretary of State. The governor will certify, or canvass, the results at 12:15 p.m. Thursday in Austin, Secretary of State spokeswoman Jordy Keith said. Because the recount did not change the outcome of the race,...

Rep. Solomon Ortiz conceded to his Republican challenger Monday night, according to a regional representative of the National Republican Congressional Committee who is in Texas’ 27th district. The Texas Democrat called challenger Blake Farenthold, a former radio talk-show host, as the last county in his district worked toward wrapping up its recount. The Farenthold victory brings the net Republican House pickups this cycle to 62 seats, with four House races still outstanding from the midterm elections. The Republican was on Capitol Hill last week for freshman orientation. Ortiz asked for the recount, which cost him $23,500, after the original unofficial...

CHARLESTON, SC (Reuters) - The Tea Party movement is just the "tip of the iceberg" of political change and a looming "war in Washington," South Carolina's conservative Republican Senator Jim DeMint said on Thursday. "Tea Party candidates were the energy behind all of the Republican victories," said DeMint, a kingmaker behind the loosely organized network of conservatives and libertarians that helped Republicans capture the U.S. House of Representatives in last week's midterm elections. "I think what we're seeing is the tip of the iceberg of a new wave of citizen activism that I think will realign politics," DeMint told Reuters...

While the Republican gains in the House and Senate are grabbing the most headlines, the most significant results on Tuesday came in state legislatures where Republicans wiped the floor with Democrats. Republicans picked up 680 seats in state legislatures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures -- the most in the modern era. To put that number in perspective: In the 1994 GOP wave, Republicans picked up 472 seats. The previous record was in the post-Watergate election of 1974, when Democrats picked up 628 seats. The GOP gained majorities in at least 14 state house chambers. They now have...

I met a conservative woman, she took my heart away She said I had it comin' to me, but I wanted it that way I think that any Tea is Tea Partyin' And so I took what I could get, mmm Oooh, oooh, she looked at me with big brown eyes And said You ain't seen nothin' yet B-B-B-Baby, you just ain't seen nothin' yet Here's something that you never gonna forget B-B-B-Baby, you just ain't seen nothin' yet And now I'm feelin' better, 'cause I found out for sure She took me to Sarah Palin and she told me...

In a pair of earlier pieces, I considered the recent GOP recapture of the House of Representatives and considered some of the choices necessary for the House leadership as they attempt to capitalize on their position after the elections, and wrest control of the agenda away from Obama and the Democrat Party -- with an eye to holding on against the inevitable counterattack, and moving forward starting in the 2012 elections. Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that a year, or a bit more has gone by: that the Congressional leadership has managed to stifle the worst excesses...

In my prior piece (The New House Leadership: A Myriad of Choices I: Who's on First?), I wrote of the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives, and noted that the new power required the leadership to make certain choices. The first choice, already covered, related to how to decide which Republicans to choose to put in positions of authority (Tea Partiers or Old Hands), and discussed some of various factors which might enter into such a decision. This piece will cover the next choice, which is, what is the most important move to make now as far as setting...

Well, the long-awaited (or disdained) Teanami has hit. Not limited to to one geographical location, it left traces on the body politic throughout the country -- from the State of Maine turning red, and the pickup of state legislative seats in New York; from the Mid-Atlantic, where North Carolina turned red for the first time in living memory; down in Florida, where (against all predictions of the chattering classes early on) Marco Rubio went from 4% in the polls to a U.S. Senate Seat; to the south, where Alabama went to the GOP, Rand Paul became a Senator from Kentucky,...

Link only, per FR posting rules

PELOSI THE TURTLE On the far-away Bubble of Washington DC, Pelosi the Turtle was queen of the Legistlatee. A nice little bubble. It was fat. There was work. The lobbyists were kind. There was plenty of pork. The Congressturtles had all Congressturtles might need. And they were all happy, yes, happy, indeed! They were, until Nancy, the Queen of them all, decided the fiefdom she ruled was too small! "I'm ruler," said Nancy,"of All I can see." "But I don't rule enough, that's what's bothering me." "From my Speaker's-chair throne, I look down on the House. But to me it's...

Reuters) - A chastened President Barack Obama on Wednesday pledged to seek compromise with Republicans who won big in congressional elections and admitted he had lost touch with voters who delivered a "shellacking" to him and his Democrats. But on issue after issue, Obama gave little ground on his positions as the two sides gear up for negotiations over how to tackle the sluggish economy, the main reason the electorate has soured on his leadership

For the first time in more than a generation the GOP swept to control of both houses of the Minnesota Legislature. In a stunning victory, Republicans swept into the majority in the Minnesota Senate for the first time in more than a generation and by early Wednesday had followed that by also taking control of the House. The dual victories left many of the state's top DFLers speechless, and erased months of optimistic projections that the party would buck a nationwide trend toward Republicans. Even Republicans, who gained confidence with each passing hour as key races broke their way, said...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) needled his own party's leaders in congratulating Republican Rand Paul's victory in the Kentucky Senate race. "I want to congratulate Rand Paul on winning a race that the leaders in his own party said he could not win," DeMint said in a statement. "Rand overcame difficult odds because he consistently stood up for conservative principles."Paul is one of the crop of GOP candidates this cycle allied with the Tea Party movement to have beaten an establishment-backed choice in the Republican primary. He beat Secretary of State Trey Grayson in an upset victory in the GOP primary....

What is going on with Nikki Haley? I can't watch local TV, but I heard from someone on the phone it was too close to call, which sounds insane considering that she was ahead by 10+ a week ago. Thanks FA

Remember what the voters back home want—less government and more freedom. BY U.S. SEN. JIM DEMINT Congratulations to all the tea party-backed candidates who overcame a determined, partisan opposition to win their elections. The next campaign begins today. Because you must now overcome determined party insiders if this nation is going to be spared from fiscal disaster. Many of the people who will be welcoming the new class of Senate conservatives to Washington never wanted you here in the first place. The establishment is much more likely to try to buy off your votes than to buy into your limited-government...

Fox: Rand Paul Wins Kentucky