“Jason Altmire” on The Daily Caller

Rep. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania was the first House Democrat to stand and defiantly call out his vote against Nancy Pelosi’s bid for minority leader on the first day of the new Congress Wednesday. (more)

It’s hard to resist those attractively patterned and packaged fabric shopping totes, especially when celebrities are promoting them and government officials are forcing businesses to charge customers for disposable bags. There’s just one problem: “Green” reusable bags often harm more than they help. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a fresh sign of turmoil among defeated Democrats, a growing number of the rank and file say they won’t support House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a politically symbolic roll call when the new Congress meets in January. (more)

There are now more than a dozen House Democrats – the list is at 14 and growing by the day – who want to fire Speaker Nancy Pelosi if their party somehow manages to keep its majority on Nov. 2. (more)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Rep. Dina Titus has been a loyal soldier in pushing the Democrats’ ambitious agenda, voting for health care legislation, extended unemployment benefits, new energy taxes and a repeal of the military’s ban on gays serving openly. (more)

When Alabama Democratic Rep. Bobby Bright recently joked that Speaker of the House “might get sick and die” – preventing her from another tenure as Speaker – it was only the most outlandish instance of politically vulnerable Democrats suddenly expressing their opposition to their Party’s leadership in Washington. (more)

In August 2009, Americans across the country showed up at Congressional townhall meetings to express their opposition to the Democrats’ healthcare reform bill, bank bailouts and wasteful stimulus spending. Thousands of people attended single events. The meetings I held last summer were more widely attended than they ever were before. (more)

Apple has started selling their new iPad, a small tablet computer that connects to the Internet. Some Apple fans have lined up three days before it goes on sale, camping out for the privilege of being one of the first to try the new technology. This is yet another device that seeks to replace printed books, magazines, and newspapers. We’re increasingly living in an electronic world, a world that will require increasing amounts of electricity to power it. (more)

From ace reporter Alex Pappas: (more)

John Barrow. Heath Shuler. Allen Boyd. Jason Altmire. John Tanner. Suzanne Kosmas. Lincoln Davis. Glenn Nye. (more)

There are 19 new tax hikes in the health care bill, which the Senate passed on Christmas Eve and Speaker Pelosi is trying to “deem” through the House on Sunday. Any one of these $500 billion in tax hikes could merit their own column—many have. There’s been a lot written on the “Cadillac plan excise tax,” the tax hikes associated with the individual and employer mandate, and even the tanning salon tax. (more)

The public doesn’t trust Washington politicians—and those politicians don’t trust each other. Those two truths could doom President Obama’s health care bill even if it weren’t an unaffordable behemoth. (more)

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor’s press operation began e-mailing reporters around 4:30, indicating they might want to go watch the House floor. (more)

From The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward: (more)

Democrats appeared to be closing in Monday on achieving support from enough lawmakers in the House to pass a historic and sweeping health-care reform bill, though the outcome was still far from certain. (more)

President Obama’s health-care reform will live or die this week, and Democrats on Sunday had not yet nailed down enough votes for passage, but could see a path to doing so. (more)

Democrat Rep. Jason Altmire wouldn’t commit one way or the other during a Wednesday meeting with Tea Party activists on how he will vote for President Obama’s health-care bill — and the now the group’s spokesman said he considers Altmire “a yes vote.” (more)

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President Obama is calling more than two dozen House Democrats to the White House Thursday as he steps up the pressure on his party to pass health-care reform. (more)

Former Rep. Melissa Hart may have hit the road and gone back home to Pittsburgh in 2006 when she lost her bid for re-election, but it appears that a car she owns still remains in the Longworth House Office building parking garage — more than three years after she left Congress. (more)