Free Republic

(CNN) — Three progressive House Democrats who won their seats by challenging Democratic incumbents are rebuking a new rule by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that prohibits the organization from conducting business with "political vendors" that support primary challengers to incumbents, calling the rule a "blacklist" that weakens the party. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Ro Khanna of California have called out the DCCC for the new rule, which is included on a form for vendors looking to partner with the organization. "The core mission of the DCCC is electing House Democrats, which includes...

Madison— Voters on Tuesday approved letting state Supreme Court justices choose who will lead them — a change to a 126-year-old system that is likely to result in the demotion of Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. With 97% of precincts reporting, the proposed amendment to the state constitution had 53% "yes" votes and 47% "no" votes. The proposal often overshadowed a race for a seat on the high court, with outside money flowing mostly to the referendum rather than the court election. In that race, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley — an ally of Abrahamson's — won a third 10-year term on...

Wailing that the Wisconsin Supreme Court is “dysfunctional” is a favorite tactic whenever Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson’s Liberal allies are trying to defeat a Conservative justice, so it’s revealing this week to see how desperate they are to preserve the status quo. As we’ve mentioned, there’s a referendum on next Tuesday’s spring election ballot. A “yes” vote would amend the Wisconsin Constitution so that the chief justice would be subject to election every two years by a vote of all seven sitting justices. This would replace the current system, in which the chief justice is whichever one has been on...

Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that key job protections for teachers in California are unconstitutional, in a major loss for unions.. The verdict represents a complete victory by attorneys who argued that state laws governing teacher layoffs, tenure and dismissals harm students by making them more likely to suffer from grossly ineffective instruction. If the preliminary ruling becomes final and is upheld, the effect will be sweeping across California and possibly the nation. Ruling "The law was on our side and the evidence was overwhelming,” said Marcellus McRae, an attorney for the plaintiffs. "Whatever happens, we can’t go...

The Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is promising to cut $100 billion from domestic spending this year. The Tea Party caucus’s response? I’ll see your $100 billion and raise you $2.4 trillion over 10 years. Both groups are barking up the wrong tree or, to use a more appropriate animal analogy, putting the cart before the horse. The road to real deficit reduction, not a cosmetic nip and tuck, runs through term limits. If Americans are truly interested in shrinking the size of government — one of the takeaways from the 2010 midterm election — they can...

Neither rookies nor seasoned veterans were spared in Tuesday's House Democratic bloodbath, which saw Republicans defeat three major committee chairmen and at least seven lawmakers who claimed 20 years' seniority or more in Congress. While the losses of 16 freshmen "Obama babies" — those elected during the president's 2008 sweep — were expected, the number of long-serving Democrats who lost re-election this week is staggering, and suggests a widespread dissatisfaction with Washington. All told, with about a dozen races still uncalled, Democrats have already shed 376 years of congressional experience, and that could go as high as 430 years if...

Political expediency can prove to be very tricky maneuvering. Alren Specter left the Republican Party for the self ascribed reason that his political career was much too important to allow Republicans in the Republican primary to decide his highly esteemed political fate. Well how the worm turns...

Such is the fate of rats. Last week when Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter switched back to the Democratic party it was announced that he would keep his seniority even though it was earned as a member of the opposition party. That was followed up with reports of Senior Democrats being not too happy with the agreement reached to bring Specter into the party. They didn't want to be passed over for plum positions just because Harry Reid made a deal. Their opinion was that Specter should receive credit only for the time he served as a Democrat which would place...

The Senate dealt a blow tonight to Sen. Arlen Specter's hold on seniority in several key committees, a week after the Pennsylvanian's party switch placed Democrats on the precipice of a 60-seat majority. In a unanimous voice vote, the Senate approved a resolution that added Specter to the Democratic side of the dais on the five committees on which he serves, an expected move that gives Democrats larger margins on key panels such as Judiciary and Appropriations.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, the longtime Democratic senator from Connecticut running for re-election as an independent, says the party leadership has assured him he would keep his seniority if he returns to Congress. Local Democrats are responding with irritation, political opponents voice disbelief, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) denies making a decision. But the strongest response is likely to come from Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) who views Lieberman’s independent status as an opportunity to press Democratic leaders to restore seniority he lost four years ago. If Lautenberg retrieves seniority accrued during 18 years of Senate service before retiring in...

Washington Most members of the U.S. House have settled into the offices they will occupy for the next two years. But U.S. Sen.-elect Lindsey Graham and his staff are looking forward to moving in January to their third temporary quarters -- a trailer in the courtyard of Capitol Hill's Russell Senate Office Building. Graham's office will be the master bedroom, said Richard Perry, his current and future chief of staff. The trailer, Perry figures, has got to be better than the teeny space nine Graham staffers now share in the Senate Transition Office. There, in the basement of the Senate...