“Elizabeth Letchworth” on The Daily Caller

On a recent campaign trip, President Obama announced that he was abandoning the line “pass this bill” in favor of “we can’t wait” — as in, “we can’t wait” for Congress to enact Obama’s jobs bill. He says that if Congress doesn’t enact his $447 billion plan, he will have no alternative but to go around Congress and implement much of his plan by executive order or by using the federal rulemaking process. This new game plan is not only flawed but, to use a baseball analogy, represents an attempt to strike out Congress. (more)

This week, many political pundits have focused on the Central Florida congressional race between Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and his Republican challenger, Daniel Webster, because of a political ad that Grayson aired. The ad compares Webster to a Taliban member and claims that Webster will force women to submit to their husbands. For those who haven’t seen the ad, it shows Webster speaking about how women need to submit to their husbands. However, the full statement from which the quote was extracted shows Webster saying the exact opposite. He was speaking to a church retreat a few years ago and specifically asked his audience to pick Bible verses that complemented their marriages. He told the men in the group NOT to pick the Bible phrase about women submitting to their husbands. (more)

When members of Congress returned to DC this week from their August recess, they should have been ready to strap on their seat belts and get to work passing the legislation that they failed to pass all year long. Their to-do list includes adopting a budget resolution, passing 12 appropriations bills that when added together fully fund our federal government, and passing a military preparedness authorization bill. After all, Congress’ spending is out of control, the government coffers are growing by leap and bounds, and our brave military men and women are fighting and dying in two wars. Instead, members of Congress will blow off doing a budget, they will package together the 12 appropriations bills and pass them as one bill with little or no debate, and the defense authorization bill is being used by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) as his own personal campaign puppet. (more)

Congress comes back to DC this week after its August recess, which was packed with overseas travel, some constituent meetings and lots of hours spent “dialing for dollars.” The first two tasks are self explanatory. The third might need a bit of “splaining.” It goes like this: Many senior members of Congress and Leadership types are expected to spend a certain number of hours a week dialing the phone to ask their friends, want-to-be-friends and industry and labor leaders for campaign contributions. They talk about the agenda they have pushed or stopped on their behalf and assure them of more of the same, as long as the campaign donations continue to flow. (more)

Members of Congress and their staffs will slowly be making their way back to D.C. this week to prepare for the last session of the 111th Congress before the November elections. There is lots of work awaiting the politicians, but they have already made history: first by being the only Congress to fail to pass a budget resolution through either chamber of our bi-cameral legislature; and second for failing to enact a single appropriations bill before mid-September. Wow, those two feats together amount to quite an accomplishment! (more)

While all eyes were on the House of Representatives this weekend, those Members of Congress that relied on the success of the two-bill strategy process to get health care passed, should really be concerned about the Senate. You see, now that the Speaker achieved the votes needed to pass the Senate health care bill Sunday, this bill goes directly to the president, to become the law of the land. The second bill, the reconciliation/correction bill, now goes over to the Senate. The Senate is where the facts and history will show that a legislative train wreck could easily occur. (more)

The health care vote could result in a fatal diagnosis in Nov. (more)

“Trust but verify.” This famous quote most often attributed to the late President Ronald Reagan is quickly becoming a resounding mantra for the Democrats in Congress, especially those that serve in the House of Representatives. trust is what the speaker of the House must sell to a minimum of 216 members of the House in order for her to garner the needed votes to pass the Senate health care bill through the House chamber in order to send the health care bill to the president to become law. This trust factor is hampering her ability to secure the magic number of votes to pass the bill. You see, the trust factor not only applies to the speaker and her word, but it extends to actions of the U. S. Senate. (more)