“Ben Nelson” on The Daily Caller

National Republican Senatorial Committee chair John Cornyn has consistently insisted that regaining control of the upper chamber would be a two-cycle process. With the party committees already busy firing rockets at prospective opposition candidates, the second half of his timeline is underway. (more)

The Democrats are in trouble in the United States Senate come November. (more)

The results of this year’s Senate elections are not even in the books, but senators and political analysts are already looking ahead to 2012, when the Senate math adds up to a daunting prospect for Democrats. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation may be waiting well beyond Election Day this year to find out who won control of Congress. (more)

As members of Congress vacate Washington to campaign, they promise (or threaten) to return after Election Day to clean up the mess they leave behind. (more)

They only needed one. (more)

One thing is certain as Congress returns from recess: tax issues will lead the agenda.  Many Americans are rightly concerned with the financial impact of President Obama and his allies in Congress enacting a de facto tax increase by failing to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax reductions in their entirety.  The loss of these vital taxpayer relief provisions, combined with moves to impose harsh penalties on the energy industry, will be a one-two-three punch on Americans: less disposable income, more job losses, and a spike in energy costs. (more)

While Nancy Pelosi can probably pass whatever she wants in the House—she’s already written the Blue Dogs off as losers in November—the real tax action this fall will be in the Senate. That’s where Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is working to gather enough votes to block a tax increase on capital gains, dividends and anyone making more than $200,000 a year. (more)

Would you vote to cut taxes only for the middle class, if that were your only choice? (more)

For decades I’ve advised students to let the facts speak for themselves, while avoiding the indulgence of shouting at the facts. In other words, we should take in all the available, reliable information; process it; and let the emerging mosaic tell its story—whether the picture pleases or not. The human (and partisan) tendency to twist facts into pretzels in order to produce a desired result must be avoided at all costs.
…. (more)

Republicans have been raising the concern of a lame-duck session of Congress where the Democrats will attempt to shove Cap and Trade, Card Check, and other tired, statist policies down the American people’s throats. Although such new authorizations would be a slap in the face to a public that just issued a new governing mandate, this concern is misdirected and minuscule compared to an even greater lame duck challenge. (more)

The Vice Presidential Diary of Joseph R. Biden (more)

Using the classic Washington fib that “It’s paid for,” Congress is spending an extra $26-billion to bail out state governments (who already got the lions’ share of last year’s failed $787-billion “stimulus” bill). (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Her confirmation assured, Elena Kagan is on the brink of becoming the fourth woman ever to serve as a Supreme Court justice. (more)

Saying “I’m very comfortable where I am,” Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) indicated Tuesday he will not switch to the Republican Party — or become an independent. (more)

Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska said he will vote against confirming Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first in his party to announce opposition. (more)

The Democrats have an impending problem surfacing at an inopportune time, the investigation of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) by the House Ethics Committee.  This comes as a surprise to many — the House has an Ethics Committee? (more)

The liberal tax revolt, as the Wall Street Journal is calling it, is a very important topic — especially for investors and small-business entrepreneurs. And for new jobs. (more)

Ben Bernanke threw a curveball in his midterm report to Congress this week. The Fed view of the economy has been downgraded since it last reported in February. Although the official Fed forecast for 2010-11 is still 3 to 4 percent real growth, Bernanke sounded particularly gloomy when he characterized the economy as “unusually uncertain.” And he indicated that the majority view of the Fed Board of Governors and Reserve Bank presidents is that the risks to growth are “weighted to the downside.” (more)

Two more Senate Democrats called for extending tax cuts for all earners—including those with the highest incomes—in what appears to be a breakdown of the party’s consensus on the how to handle the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts. (more)