“Ben Nelson” on The Daily Caller

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) is set to announce he will not seek reelection, according to sources, leaving his seat as a strong pickup opportunity for the GOP in the 2012 election. (more)

In a satirical ad funded by the Colbert Super PAC, former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer took a shot at Super PACs and the way they leverage money to influence elections. Roemer’s spot features the dark horse presidential candidate and a unicorn named Rainbow. (more)

FreedomWorks PAC officially weighed in on the Nebraska Senate race Wednesday, endorsing Republican Don Stenberg. In 2012, Stenberg will be challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson. (more)

In the movie Office Space, a software company brings in two outsiders (the Bobs) to identify waste and cut unnecessary employees and practices. One employee reveals he has eight bosses and only does enough work to not get hassled by any of them. Another employee screams that he is the only one who can deal with the customers because he has “people skills.” Yet another employee was unknowingly laid off but still receives a paycheck every week because of a glitch in the system. (more)

It’s the super-PAC that keeps packing a punch. (more)

Nick Loeb, boyfriend of “Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara, is already one of the luckiest men on the planet. Now he’s hoping that luck will extend to a win in the 2012 race for Florida Democrat Bill Nelson’s U.S. Senate seat. (more)

Although the last-minute budget deal that lawmakers agreed to on Friday did not defund Planned Parenthood, it did guarantee that an up-or-down vote on whether to defund the abortion provider will be held in the near future. That’s a vote that 3 self-proclaimed “pro-life” Senate Democrats must be dreading. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) claim to be strongly pro-life. All three are up for reelection in 2012 and will have to take a very public stance on the defunding of Planned Parenthood. This single vote has the potential to seriously haunt their future campaigns. (more)

Three Republican senators from the Tea Party Caucus — Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah — joined a unanimous block of Democrats to kill a House budget plan with $61 billion in cuts. Then, just moments later, 11 Senate Democrats helped block their own leadership’s proposal. (more)

As the government draws closer to a possible shutdown, party leaders are digging their heels into the ground by refusing to negotiate on spending cuts for a short-term spending bill, but it may be moderate Senate Democrats that end up saving the day. (more)

The House, the Senate, and President Obama have all agreed that there will be no earmarks for the next two years. That resolve will be immediately tested when the House takes up the extension of the fiscal year (FY) 2011 continuing resolution (CR) this week. (more)

Washington (CNN) – The Tea Party Express is hyping, what it calls, “exclusive news”: that the group has placed another name on its list of political targets. (more)

Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson said Wednesday during a conference call with Nebraska reporters that he intends to get rid of the aisle in the Senate that divides members by party affiliation. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is retiring and his party has a big problem in 2012 — and beyond. (more)

In the coming days, the House of Representatives will take up and overwhelmingly pass a bill to repeal the health care bill signed into law last year. The repeal bill will then languish in the Senate; Democrats simply have the numbers, and the president’s veto. Yet, this doesn’t mean that more subtle reforms to the bill are off the table — in fact, they’re likely to see implementation, presidential signature and all. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Less than two months after voters gave Republicans six more Senate seats and control of the House, the GOP is lining up candidates for 2012, well ahead of the pace of previous election cycles. (more)

Repeal of the military’s ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy appears to be a lock. With four moderate Senate Republicans planning to vote for repeal, supporters now have 61 votes — more than the majority needed for passage and enough to to prevent a filibuster. But opponents are going into hyper-drive, attempting to stop what now appears to be inevitable. (more)

Senate Democrats on Wednesday defeated an amendment to pay for the $60 billion in unemployment insurance payments that were included in President Obama’s tax deal with Republicans, which included a provision that would have eliminated taxpayer-funded benefits for millionaires. (more)

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (R) is turning his attention to 2012 and using the vote this week on an earmark moratorium to pick his Democratic targets. (more)

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is vowing to bring the immigration-related “DREAM Act” to the Senate floor and some Senate Republicans are sounding the alarm bells, highlighting that it would offer amnesty to an estimated 2.1 million illegal aliens. (more)

Republicans may be in control of the U.S. House of Representatives when the 112th Congress comes to Washington, D.C. in January, but the 111th Congress isn’t dead yet.  When the disastrous Pelosi-Reid-led Congress comes back for its lame-duck session on November 15th, it should have one thing in mind: do no more harm to country or party.  But clearly, doing what the American people want has not been the modus operandi thus far.  We should all be uneasy, because six weeks is enough time to do a lot more damage if we let our guard down. (more)