1.) FCIC dissenters defend bailing out Wall Street — Two reports will come out of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission today. The one written by the panel’s liberal majority will blame lax regulation and the banking industry for the collapse of the housing industry. The other, written by commissioners Bill Thomas, a former Republican congressman from California, Keith Hennessey, former chairman of the White House National Economic Council under President George W. Bush, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office, spreads the blame more broadly among “investors, creditors, regulators, homebuyers, and politicians,” all of whom must take “personal responsibility.” The dissenters also defended bailing out Wall Street: “For a policymaker, the calculus is simple: if you bail out AIG and you’re wrong, you will have wasted taxpayer money and provoked public outrage,” the paper reads. “If you don’t bail out AIG and you’re wrong, the global financial system collapses. It should be easy to see why policymakers favored action–there was a chance of being wrong either way, and the costs of being wrong without action were far greater than the costs of being wrong with action.” Thank goodness we didn’t destabilize the global financial system, which might have led to really scary stuff, like high unemployment. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is retiring and his party has a big problem in 2012 — and beyond. (more)
When all 63 new Republican House members arrived in Washington last week, they brought with them varying degrees of expertise in policy and politics. (more)
1.) Two Democrats announce plans to overreact to Tucson massacre — A little more than 24 hours after a lone gunman attempted to assassinate Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, killing and wounding more than a dozen others in the process, two Democratic representatives announced their plans to further restrict Americans’ freedom. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was killed and her son injured in a subway car shooting, wants to renew a Clinton-era ban on large ammunition magazines, as well as investigate the type of ammunition used by deranged (and possibly schizophrenic) shooter Jared L. Loughner. “Looking at the number of clips that he was able to fire, from 15 to 20 rounds, we need to look at those and say, ‘Why should an average citizen be able to have that?’” McCarthy told Newsday. “If you have a semiautomatic and can’t take someone down with a standard clip, you shouldn’t have one.” Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Robert Brady would like to make it “a federal crime for a person to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a Member of Congress or federal official.” When asked by CNN if he honestly expected his colleagues to join him in defecating on the First Amendment, Brady replied, “Why would you be against it?” (more)
In the week since Democrats got thumped at the polls, President Barack Obama and soon-to-be former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have shown themselves to be in absolute denial as to why their policies were rejected by the American people. For one, President Obama looked completely disconnected from the American people in his 60 Minutes interview. Secondly, Nancy Pelosi’s lust for power has taken over and she is running for minority leader of the Democrat caucus, and throwing a party to celebrate her “accomplishments” in the 111th Congress. (more)
A look of the key races in the 50 states: (more)
A majority of likely voters in the most competitive House districts support repealing the Democrats’ health overhaul, according to recent polling data. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — As if voters don’t have enough to be angry about this election year, the government is expected to announce this week that more than 58 million Social Security recipients will go through another year without an increase in their monthly benefits. (more)
There may be 435 House races neck-deep in battles across the country this year, but the magic number on everyone’s mind come election day is “39.” That’s the number of seats the Republicans must net to switch party leadership in the new session that will begin in 2011. At this point, no honest political observer can say they know for certain that victory is in the bag for either party. (more)
WILLISTON, N.D.—Cliff Wehrman has a new Dodge pickup and the remnants of a tan from a Mexican beach vacation. (more)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to “drain the swamp,” and rid Washington of corruption. It was an admirable goal as the House was recovering from scandals relating to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But her pet ethics initiative, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), got off to an inauspicious start and has left enemies simmering. Recent high-profile allegations by the independent body are only exacerbating the tensions. (more)
With Democrats fighting to hold onto their majorities in the House and Senate, they have enlisted their most ardent supporter — Big Labor — to help push back against a resurgent Republican Party. No interest group has been more vital to the Democratic Party’s recent success than organized labor, which spent nearly $400 million on Democratic candidates during the 2008 election cycle. (more)
A fiery debate erupted this week in Washington over whether Congress is about to slip a massive taxpayer-funded bailout for failing union pension plans, to the tune of $165 billion, into an already bloated emergency spending bill. (more)
House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson claims that Democrats have clinched the vote, Mike Allen reports. (more)
WASHINGTON – A bipartisan bill that would provide tax cuts for businesses that hire unemployed workers cleared a GOP filibuster in the Senate Monday, opening the way for final congressional approval. (more)
Democrats were leaning Tuesday toward a plan to force the Senate’s version of health-care reform through the House if Republican Scott Brown wins the Massachusetts Senate seat. (more)
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy is not seeking the presidency of a Washington lobbying group for life insurers, a spokeswoman said Friday, although an industry representative called the North Dakota Democrat a “natural” candidate for the job. (more)
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Rep. Earl Pomeroy is being mentioned as a possible candidate for the presidency of a Washington lobbying group for the life insurance industry. (more)
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven has begun his U.S. Senate run with an appeal for lower taxes, less debt and federal tax incentives to encourage job growth and energy production. (more)
