Voice in the wilderness
This week U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe reportedly was the only member of the Senate’s Republican caucus voting against a moratorium on earmarks — the process by which members of Congress designate federal spending on specific projects in their states and districts. Sen. Lisa Murkowski missed the vote because she’s in Alaska awaiting the conclusion of her re-election race but says she would’ve voted against the ban if she had been around.
As he’s explained many times, Inhofe believes the earmark moratorium is a lot of hot air over a relatively small amount of money (2 percent to 3 percent of total federal spending). And besides, he argues, the legislative branch is constitutionally empowered to appropriate funds. So, no, he’s not concerned about being a lone wolf on earmarks.
Nor on other stuff, either. He was an early opponent to the Obama administration’s cap-and-trade bill and his stalwart crusade against anti-global warming measures has earned plenty of bile from advocates. No matter. One of Inhofe’s favorite stories is about how he jetted to last year’s big climate change conference in Denmark, basically parachuting into Copenhagen for a couple of hours to be a one-man band in opposition — surrounded by a sea of people who didn’t agree with him. You need a tough hide to play the role of a voice crying out in the wilderness. Inhofe’s most certainly is.
The appropriations helm
Don’t pay as much attention to pronouncements from House Speaker-to-be John Boehner on controlling federal spending as to who ends up in charge of the new Republican House’s Appropriations Committee. Appropriations is where the nuts-and-bolts decisions on spending will be made and already there’s lots of jockeying for that chairmanship. The eventual winner either could be a great help to national GOP leaders on spending or an incredible hindrance.
According to Politico, former approps chairman Jerry Lewis of California wants another swing at the job. But that would require waiving the party’s term-limits rules. Lewis is known around Washington as the consummate appropriator — which is to say, the kind of insider who generally fared poorly in congressional elections earlier this month. Lots of Republicans and tea partiers want someone else to chair the committee, someone who will hold the line on earmarks and overall spending. After all, both were major themes in the just-concluded campaign.
But if not Lewis, who? Kentucky’s Harold Rogers would be next in line, but he, too, is a long-time committee member — whose commitment to spending restraint is automatically suspect. Politico reports Rogers is vowing allegiance to an earmarks ban and other reforms. And, big surprise, Rogers has been saying that waiving the term-limits rule would be a big mistake. It’ll be interesting to see how the leadership race pans out — Boehner will play a huge role — and whether fiscal hawks like Arizona’s Jeff Flake land spots on the committee. Certainly, both questions will be watched carefully by voters expecting change, not more of the same old, same old.
The gift that keeps giving
Nancy Pelosi’s decision to run for House minority leader in the next Congress is like Christmas come early for Republicans. Make that two Christmases. Here’s why: If Pelosi wins, lots of this year’s TV ads, signs, posters and Web sites with grainy images of the soon-to-be-former House speaker will be recyclable for 2012, as the GOP reminds Americans why they turned out the Democratic majority last week. Republicans are giddy at the thought. A “Fire Pelosi” sign outside one GOP building was replaced with “Hire Pelosi.”
Republicans aren’t alone in seeing the political risks of Pelosi’s lingering leadership. Fox News reports a draft letter from defeated House Democrats, being circulated on Capitol Hill, urges her to step aside. “Many of us want the chance to run again and reclaim the seats that we lost on Tuesday,” the letter states. “With you as the leader of House Democrats, the hangover of 2010 stands no chance of subsiding.” There’s no indication who has or will sign the letter. But the fact such a missive is circulating suggests Pelosi might face significant push-back as the leadership vote approaches.
Pelosi says she’s in
Current U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be a candidate for minority leader as Democrats start thinking about handing control of the chamber to Republicans. Pelosi’s decision means there will be heightened drama when Dems pick new leaders. A number in the caucus, including Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, have said they won’t support Pelosi as leader. Blue Dog Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., said he’ll challenge Pelosi if no other moderate else steps forward. The one to watch is current Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. Hoyer is more moderate than the speaker, and their relationship is more professional than cordial. Hoyer might see this week’s election debacle as a signal it’s his time to be top banana. Current Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., also might jump in.
Pass the tissues, please
What’s your take on presumptive House Speaker John Boehner’s tearful victory speech Tuesday night, after it was clear Republicans had picked up enough seats to control the chamber starting in January? Boehner, derided for his perpetual tan and Washington insider-ism, broke down at several points as he described his pursuit of the American dream. Boehner’s personal story is a classic tear-jerker: huge family, working all hours in his dad’s tavern, putting himself through school — just about everything except scrawling his sums on the blade of a shovel by firelight. OK, the shovel bit was gratuitously cynical. Seriously, although Boehner’s known around Washington as a chronic sobber, regularly choking himself up during big floor speeches, Tuesday’s display looked like the real deal. The Boehner speakership has yet to unfold, but it looks like he’ll be a stark contrast to President Obama’s clinical, professorial manner.
Campaign ’10 last gasps …
A little around the horn on Election Day eve …
Seen: Last Gallup generic ballot reading shows Republicans with a 15-point lead. In 1994, the last big GOP wave year, the generic ballot lead was something like seven points. Gallup says Republicans’ generic ballot lead is large enough that regardless of turnout they’ll win the House of Representatives. The pollster says historical models predict the GOP “could gain anywhere from 60 seats on up, with gains well beyond that possible.” Sounds like last winter’s forecasts for the Washington, D.C., area: “Accumulations of two feet or more are possible …”
Also seen: The number of Americans who think things are going badly is 75 percent in a CNN poll — higher than it has ever been on the eve of a midterm election since the question was first asked in the mid-1970s. Pretty tough if it happens to be your watch.
Heard: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s closing weekend ads focusing on opponent Sharron Angle as extreme, pathological and unhinged. Not exactly “Morning in America.”
Economy doesn’t bail out Dems
Friday’s economic news — 2 percent third-quarter growth — probably isn’t the “Hail Mary” so many Democrats across the country were hoping for heading into the final weekend of Campaign ’10. The figure is slightly better than the second quarter, but well short of what’s needed to favorably impact unemployment. “It’s the expected GDP number, which is mostly bad news for the economy,” economist Josh Bivens told The New York Times. “The growth rate is just nowhere near enough to put downward pressure on unemployment.” Consumer demand was relatively weak in the third quarter, experts said, and whatever good was produced by the federal stimulus bill is fading, The Times reports, with city and state governments cutting jobs. Again, not the evidence Democrats wanted as Americans prepare to render judgment on the majority party’s stewardship of the economy the past two years.
The O’Donnell feint
Finally, it has become clear: Republican Christine O’Donnell’s candidacy for the open U.S. Senate seat from Delaware was a clever feint — a “demonstration on the flank” as they say in military-speak — drawing fire from other races Democrats might have won, making it easier for the GOP to seriously challenge for Senate control. Think about it. Ms. O’Donnell, a well-meaning, virtuous sort, has been the obsession of the left-wing punditocracy since she upset RINO Mike Castle in Delaware’s GOP primary. Of course, there’s been plenty of 15- and 20-year-old video of her saying goofy things to fuel the foment. Now there’s scurrilous, made-up junk being alleged about O’Donnell’s private life. You’d think Delaware was going to be a nail-biter! But no: O’Donnell is anywhere from 10 to 20 points down in recent polls. Meanwhile, races where Democrats should’ve been competitive — such as Missouri and North Carolina — apparently aren’t. And Dem incumbents like Russ Feingold in Wisconsin, Patty Murray in Washington — even Barbara “Call me senator!” Boxer in California — might be turned out. Was O’Donnell sent out to take one for the team? Maybe not on purpose, but the result might be the same.
Dude!
How many caught President Obama on “The Daily Show” Wednesday night with Jon Stewart? Reviews Thursday are somewhat mixed but then, how much heavy lifting are you really going to do on a comedy show, right? One exchange, perhaps, was symptomatic. Asked by Stewart about his administration’s performance on the economy, Obama claimed credit for stabilizing the financial system, the stock market and the overall economy — all at less than half the cost (in terms of U.S. gross domestic product) of fixing the S&L crisis in the 1980s, which by comparison was smaller and more localized than the recent recession. “I’d say we’ll take that,” the president said confidently.
He should’ve stopped while he was ahead. In the next breath, trying to credit his former economics adviser, Obama teed up a line no professional funny man could miss if he tried: “Larry Summers did a heckuva job …” As the studio audience started cracking up, Stewart pounced, deadpanning: “You don’t wanna use that phrase, dude!” Obama tried to yuk it off as an intended pun, but inadvertently comparing his performance on the economy to President Bush’s on Hurricane Katrina — using the same word to reference an ineffective underling — surely wasn’t the objective in what was supposed to be a friendly sit-down with Stewart.
He’s an expert
Juan Williams’ firing by NPR this week looks like it’ll be more than the typical, three-day Washington story. NPR terminated Williams as a “news analyst” after his remarks on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” — basically, that seeing people dressed in Muslim garb during air travel caused him momentary anxiety and fear, given the realities of 9-11. Williams and millions of Americans. That was too much honesty for the higher-ups at NPR, who bravely cashiered Williams, a 10-year veteran, over the phone. There’s been lots of speculation that NPR long has wanted to be rid of Williams because he’s also a regular contributor on Fox, and that there was pressure from NPR’s liberal-leaning contributors to give him the axe.
Some of the back-and-forth over Williams is interesting, some is silly — like The (London) Guardian’s Michael Tomasky, who blogs that Williams basically had it coming. No self-respecting liberal would ever appear on Fox, Tomasky writes. “Fox News wants liberalism to perish from the face of the earth,” Tomasky writes. “Going on their air on a regular basis and lending your name and reputation to their ideological razzle-dazzle is like agreeing to be the regular kulak guest columnist at Pravda in 1929. For ‘balance’.” Here’s the silly part: Several paragraphs earlier in the same post, Tomasky writes he doesn’t watch Fox. So, you might ask, how would Tomasky know anything about Fox’s “balance” or Williams’ role as a contributor? Good question.
