Republican victories in the Virginia and New Jersey governors’ races may send shivers through Democratic circles, but what does it mean for President Barack Obama’s ambitious proposal to overhaul the $2.5 trillion healthcare system?

Not much, say Democrats. They are looking beyond the state issues that dominated the governor’s races and instead are focusing on two congressional races won by Democrats where national issues like healthcare reform were in play. 

“From my perspective we won last night,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters when asked about Tuesday’s elections. “This was a victory for healthcare reform. From my standpoint we picked up votes last night — one in California and one in New York.”

The two victories–one in New York district 23 where Bill Owens became the first Democrat to win the seat in over a century and in California district 10 where John Garamendi kept the seat vacated by Ellen Tauscher in Democratic hands — brings the number of Democrats in the House to 258.

 That gives Pelosi a little more breathing room as she tries to muster the votes needed to pass the sweeping health reform legislation.  She could lose as many as 40 Democrats when the House votes, possibly later this week, and still pass the measure.

The two new members are expected to be sworn into office on Thursday.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveils Democratic healthcare legislation)

Call it political stage fright.

Or perhaps fear of igniting a political firestorm over Michael Jackson, the fallen “King of Pop.”

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday she saw no need to vote on a resolution honoring the musical icon, who had been dogged by unproven allegations of child sexual abuse and acquitted of such charges in 2005.

“Michael Jackson was a great, great performer,” Pelosi told her weekly news conference.

“What I have said to my colleagues over the years … is that there is opportunity on the floor of the House to express their sympathy or their praise any time that they wish.”

But, she called unnecessary a resolution saluting Jackson as a  “global humanitarian” in the fight against AIDS and hunger, and ”an accomplished contributor” to the arts and entertainment.

“A resolution, I think, would open up to contrary views that are not necessary at this time,” she said.

Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee offered the resolution a day after Jackson died at age 50 of cardiac arrest and she touted the measure at his nationally televised memorial service this week.

But it became apparent not everyone in the House of Representatives was a Michael Jackson fan. When some members asked for a moment of silence last month, a number of  lawmakers walked off the floor.

Republican Representative Peter King, in comments broadcast on YouTube, denounced what he described as the glorification of a “lowlife” and “pervert.”

A Democratic aide said party leaders wanted the matter to go away. ”They don’t want to end up in a fight.”

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Photo credit: Reuters/Aly Song (Pelosi in Shanghai in May), Reuters/Stephen Hird (Waxwork figure of Michael Jackson at Maddame Tussauds in London)

                                      There was political theater, drama, but no surprise ending on Thursday on a topic involving spies, torture and truth in the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives.

Republicans again ripped into Speaker Nancy Pelosi for accusing the CIA of misleading Congress — and her fellow Democrats quickly blocked their bid for a bipartisan probe into her truthfulness. The vote was 252-172.

“The Republicans … have been focused on the politics of personal destruction,” House Democratic leader House Steny Hoyer said afterward.

Hoyer also accused Republicans of trying to divert attention from the Bush administration’s treatment of prisoners as well as Democratic efforts this year to revamp healthcare and move the nation toward energy independence.

Democrats rushed to Pelosi’s defense earlier this week, saying they believe her statement that the CIA did not inform her at a September 2002 briefing that it had used waterboarding, simulated drowning widely denounced as torture, during interrogations of suspected enemy combatants.

Prior to the House vote, Republican leader John Boehner, who has pounded Pelosi for saying the CIA had misled Congress, said, “Getting to the bottom of this quickly is important.”

“The speaker has made a very serious charge,” Boehner told reporters. He added it has had “a chilling effect on our U.S. intelligence officials around the world.”

Hoyer fired back by citing what he said were remarks by a number of Republicans, including Boehner, in recent years critical of the CIA.  On Wednesday, Senator Arlen Specter, a former Republican who recently switched to Democrat, defended Pelosi — known as one of the most liberal Democrats in the House and a favorite target of conservative critics.

“The CIA has a very bad record when it comes to — I was about to say ‘candid;’ that’s too mild - to honesty,” Specter, a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told members of the American Law Institute.

REUTERS/Stephen Hird (House speaker Nancy Pelosi at No. 10 Downing Street after meeting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on May 12)

As the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate drew closer to wrapping up votes on their version of the fiscal 2010 budget, President Barack Obama’s staff appeared to pull the trigger a bit hastily on his congratulatory statements praising the Senate vote.

At 7:50 p.m. EDT, about 40 minutes after the House of Representatives approved its budget plan that trims Obama’s $3.55 trillion budget proposal, the White House issued a statement from Obama praising the vote as “another step toward rebuilding our struggling economy.”

But appended to the bottom was another statement from Obama — who probably was asleep since he’s in London — that looked like the statement the White House planned to issue after the Senate votes on its own budget plan:

“Tonight, the Senate has joined the House of Representatives in taking an important step toward rebuilding our struggling economy. This budget resolution embraces our most fundamental priorities: an energy plan that will end our dependence on foreign oil and spur a new clean energy economy; an education system that will ensure our children will be able to compete in the economy of the 21st century; and health care reform that finally confronts the back-breaking costs plaguing families, businesses and government alike,” it said.

“And by making hard choices and challenging the old ways of doing business, we will cut in half the budget deficit we inherited within four years. With this vote comes an obligation to pursue our efforts to go through the budget line-by-line, searching for additional savings. Like the families we serve, we must cut the things we don’t need to invest in those we do.”

About 20 minutes later, the White House issued a revised statement with the words of praise for the House vote, and no mention of the yet-to-come Senate vote.

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- Photo credit: Reuters/John Voos (Obama during a news conference in London)

Democrats and Republicans each claim bragging rights in a U.S. congressional race billed as a referendum on President Barack Obama.
 
But political analysts said the special election to fill a vacant seat from New York in the House of Representatives was so close — and yet to be decided — no one has much cause to celebrate.
 
“It’s basically a tie. It’s like kissing your sister,” said Charlie Cook of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which tracks congressional and presidential races.
 
As of Wednesday, a day after the election, Democrat Scott Murphy, a venture capitalist, held a lead of fewer than 70 votes over Republican New York Assemblyman Jim Tedisco.
 
The race likely will be decided by absentee ballots.
 
“Regardless the final outcome, the fact that we closed a 21-point margin (in the polls) in eight weeks is a testament to the fact that the economic message that Scott Murphy carried resonated with voters and his message was support the president’s economic recovery plan,” said Congressman Chris Van Hollen, head of the House Democratic campaign committee.
 
Republicans said the congressional district, though long Republican, went Democrat in recent years, including last November when Obama won it by 3 percentage points.
 
“Jim Tedisco has closed the gap in a district that has come to exemplify Democratic dominance,” said Pete Sessions, chairman of the House Republican campaign committee.
 
“That is a testament to the strength of Jim’s campaign and the effectiveness of the Republican message of fiscal responsibility and accountability,” Sessions said.
 
Nathan Gonzales of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report, said, “Both sides have reasons to be happy, but also reason to be a little disappointed.”
 
The seat has been open since January, when New York Governor David Paterson appointed Kirsten Gillibrand to the U.S. Senate.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts (Obama points after signing the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, March 30 )

WASHINGTON - How outraged can they be?

U.S. lawmakers are clearly outraged by the $165 million in bonuses being paid to executives at bailed-out insurer American International Group. For the last two days, they’ve been talking about it in press releases,  at news conference and in speeches on the floor of the Senate and House.

But no one says it more colorfully and more bluntly than Republican Senator Chuck Grassley — so far.

“From my standpoint, it’s irresponsible for corporations to give bonuses, at this time, when they are so sucking the tit of the taxpayer,” Grassley said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Grassley, an Iowa farmer, is most likely just channeling what many taxpayers are thinking.

The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve has put up to $180 billion at AIG’s disposal to keep them afloat and prevent the insurance giant from sinking the global financial system. The company said it had contract obligations to pay out some $165 million in retention bonuses to employees.

Grassley on Monday had some other colorful comments about AIG executives saying they should perhaps adopt what he called the Japanese approach to taking responsibility for their actions and “resign or go commit suicide.”

He pulled back from that “rhetoric” saying he obviously does not want people to kill themselves.

But Grassley says executives at AIG and other companies that ran to the government for money after “running their corporations into the ground” owe U.S. taxpayers an apology and ought to consider resigning.

Grassley’s Senate office phones have been ringing off the hook since the suicide remark with about half the callers saying his remarks were insensitive and half agreeing with him, an aide said.

Grassley also received numerous comments of praise on his Facebook page, including one who lauded that the senator “had the guts to stand up and say what the taxpayers are thinking.”

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Mike Theiler (Senator Grassley speaks at Reuters regulation summit last year)

WASHINGTON - Kit Bond has become the third U.S. Senate Republican in three months to announce plans to retire, creating another challenge in his party’s effort to gain seats in the Democratic-led chamber. 
The 69-year-old, four-term senator from Missouri disclosed his intentions with a touch of levity in a speech in his state capital of Jefferson City. 
“In 1972, I became Missouri’s youngest governor,” Bond said, according to a transcript. “Ladies and gentlemen, I do not aspire to become Missouri’s oldest senator. 
Bond’s decision to leave the Senate at the end of his current term in 2010 followed earlier such announcements by Mel Martinez of Florida and Sam Brownback of Kansas. 
Each is a blow to Republican efforts to rebound from the poundings they took in the past two elections that saw Democrats gain seats in the Senate and House of Representatives. 
“These retirements put Republicans in the defensive mode at the start of the new (election) cycle,” said Nathan Gonzales of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. “The more open seats there are the more difficult it is to make gains.” 
Incumbents traditionally have a number of advantages against challengers, including name recognition and the ability to raise money. 
While three Senate Republicans plan to retire, four Democrats from last year’s Senate have or intend to step down to join the new administration — beginning with Barack Obama. He recently gave up his seat from Illinois to prepare to move into the White House. 
Joe Biden of Delaware will soon resign from his Senate seat to be sworn in on Jan. 20 as Obama’s vice president. 
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Ken Salazar of Colorado intend to resign once they win anticipated Senate confirmation as Obama’s secretary of state and interior secretary, respectively. 
The governors of New York, Delaware and Colorado are expected to replace Biden, Clinton and Salazar with fellow Democrats. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has named a Democrat to replace Obama. But there’s been a battle over the appointment since Blagojevich has been engulfed by a corruption scandal.

President-elect Barack Obama will use a speech on the economy Thursday to try to build support for a massive stimulus bill aimed at lifting the United States out of a deep recession. 
 
Obama is warning Congress that unless it acts quickly and boldly to pass his stimulus plan, with its estimated $775 billion price tag, the country could be mired for years in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
 
The president-elect delivers his remarks at 11 a.m. at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, with less than two weeks to go before his inauguration.
 
The speech comes as some lawmakers and financial experts are beginning to raise doubts about elements of the stimulus plan.
 
The Washington Post quoted lawmakers, tax experts and economists as saying some of the tax cuts in the Obama plan are likely to be too expensive and ineffective.
 
Obama’s choice to lead the administration’s charge on health care reform goes before a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday.
 
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is expected to receive a cordial welcome from his ex-colleagues and Democratic leaders on the panel predict a smooth confirmation.
 
President George W. Bush travels to Philadelphia Thursday for an event touting the success of his No Child Left Behind education reform program.
 
The House of Representatives and the Senate hold a joint session to formally count the electoral votes from the November election, in which Obama defeated Republican rival John McCain.
 
The action will formally declare Obama as winner of the U.S. presidential vote.
 
The morning television news shows reported on Obama’s economic speech and new violence in the Middle East, where rockets from Lebanon struck northern Israel.
 
The attacks raised concerns about a possible second front in Israel’s two-week war against Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.
 
U.S. stock futures dropped early Thursday on disappionting December sales by Wal-Mart, pointing to a lower open on Wall Street.
 
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Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Obama listens as Bush speaks during an Oval Office meeting Wednesday with all the living former presidents)

WASHINGTON - Who will be blamed if Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives get crushed in Tuesday’s election?

That’s a question being asked amid Republican fears that they may lose as many as 30 seats. That would be on top of the 30 they dropped in the 2006 election that saw Democrats win control of the House, which they now hold, 235-199.

If House Republicans have another bad night, their leaders could be in jeopardy of being replaced — just like the manager of the baseball team who’s bounced after a bad season or two.

“There’s going to be a shakeup,” predicted a senior Republican leadership aide.

A former leadership aide said another big loss would trigger “spontaneous combustion from the House Republican” members, signaling “a need for change.”

The top dog, John Boehner of Ohio, is preparing to run for another two-year term as minority leader, according to aides. So far, nobody appears to be emerging as a viable challenger. But that could change after the election as the damage is surveyed.

Boehner won high marks this summer when he crafted an election-year message that resonated with voters: the call for expanded oil drilling that morphed into “drill, baby, drill” at the Republican presidential nominating convention.

But by mid-September, the Wall Street bailout coupled with falling gasoline prices virtually wiped out Republican advances.

There’s speculation House Republican Whip Roy Blunt, the party’s second in commmand, could play the “fall guy” and step aside, Republican aides say.

“He’s held the whip (job) for two terms …. there’s blood in the water,” the ex-House aide said, adding the six-term Missouri congressman has mulled leaving leadership or even Congress. A Blunt spokeswoman said that for now, Republicans are focused on congressional elections, not leadership races.

Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the chief deputy whip, is jockeying to move up a notch, Republican aides say.

And then there’s Rep. Adam Putnam, the 34-year-old Floridian who holds the number-three post in House Republican leadership. Aides speculate he wants to keep the job, with Boehner’s backing. But some also wonder if he’ll get blamed for Republicans lacking a clear agenda. There’s also hard feelings over how he handled the Wall Street bailout.

Boehner, Blunt and Putnam may all be at risk if Election Day turns into a Republican nightmare. But at this point, it’s a bit of a mystery what will happen.

“They may all get wiped out or just one or two of them,” a leadership aide said. “It’s hard to say.”

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Boehner, Blunt and Putnam talk to reporters earlier this month)

WASHINGTON - Democrats seem well positioned to increase their control of the U.S. Congress and win the White House in the November elections. But with such success will come pressure.  

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York says his victorious party would have to quickly resolve concerns of the American people — ranging from bringing down record gas prices and expanding health care to resolving the housing crisis and withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

“If we get in 2009 and we don’t solve people’s problems, they will kick us out as quickly as they put us in,” Schumer, head of the Senate Democratic campaign committee, told reporters on Wednesday.

“So the big challenge, bigger than the election, is actually getting things done,” Schumer said.

Schumer quickly added, however, with Barack Obama in the White House and “an increase in Democratic seats in the House and Senate, I’m optimistic we can do it.”

“People are demanding change, and I think you will see one of the most productive sessions (of Congress ever) if we pick up a good number of seats in the House and Senate,” Schumer said.

When Democrats won control of the White House in 1992, they already had control of the House of Representatives and Senate but soon lost both chambers in the 1994 mid-term election.

Schumer and Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who heads the House Democratic campaign committee, cited public opinion polls and advantages in fundraising in predicting Democrats would increase their majorities in the House and Senate.

They declined to predict by how much, however. Democrats, who won control of Congress from Republicans in the 2006 elections, now hold the House, 236-199, and the Senate, 51-49. 

Republicans have 23 seats in the Senate to defend versus 12 for Democrats. In the House, more than two dozen Republicans have decided to retire or seek other office and Democrats have already picked up three seats in special elections this year in Republican districts.

“We expect to pickup a significant number of seats,” said Schumer. Van Hollen added, “Things are very positive.”

Both said they expect Obama, who polls show with a slight lead over White House rival Republican John McCain, to help congressional Democrats on Election Day.  

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- Photo credit: Larry Downing (Schumer grabs a break to exercise)