“U.S. House” on The Daily Caller

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (AP) — The third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House says he’ll decide after Jan. 1 whether to run for president. (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)

Republicans may increase their control of the U.S. House that will be installed in January by picking up seats among nine Democratic-held districts where the outcome remains in doubt. (more)

A new ad was circulated via mail earlier this week to voters in Maryland’s 1st Congressional district. The mailer, which discloses in the bottom right-hand corner that it was paid for by the Democratic Congressional Committee (DCCC), features a candidate named Richard Davis. (more)

House and Senate members have left Washington to head back to their homes, many campaigning for reelection in the face of angry voters. Let’s hope they listen to what we are saying — your policies stink — and heed our words before they go back to their old, dangerous spending ways in the almost certain lame-duck session. (more)

Republicans in November will win control of more state legislatures than previously projected, according to a report released Thursday, which could lead to more Republican drawn U.S. House districts during redistricting next year. (more)

Polls opened around the country this morning for the last major round of primaries before the midterm general elections in November. Today, voters are going to the polls in Delaware, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland and Wisconsin. (more)

Sen. John Thune has already spent more than $4.6 million on a re-election campaign that doesn’t have an opponent. (more)

PRINCETON, NJ — Presidents who retain majority job approval from Americans at the time of midterm elections are much less likely to see their party suffer heavy seat losses than are those with sub-50% approval ratings. Since 1946, when presidents are above 50% approval, their party loses an average of 14 seats in the U.S. House in the midterm elections, compared with an average loss of 36 seats when presidents are below that mark. (more)

Few have read the 2,700 page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  Even if you have, it is difficult to absorb the full implications of the health reform bill.  Each week the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), and Treasury produce new regulations.  With so much happening so fast how can employers, insurance agents, consultants, lawyers, or insurance companies keep up with decisions to set strategies, make rational choices, and be legally compliant? (more)

(CNN) — Anti-establishment candidates are capitalizing on widespread anti-incumbent fervor and proposing term limits as a way to bring the power back to the people. (more)

As we mark the 60^th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War, the Korean Peninsula provides the world a living, object lesson. On this peninsula, approximately the size of Minnesota, the Korean people are ethnically identical. But, upon gaining independence after World War II, the Korean people took separate paths to self-government. The North led by Soviet occupying forces, the South by U.S-Allied forces. The armistice in 1953 that ended the Korean War split the war-ravaged Korean people with a totalitarian regime in the North and a society based on freedom of expression, religion and private property rights in the South. Both new countries were considered relatively “poor” though North Korea had much more heavy industry and resources compared to the mountainous, rural southern part. (more)

YUCCA VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Bill Warner is hardly a naive man. He ran his own engineering firm for three decades, and sold the assets just before the economy tanked. He built his dream home on a majestic hill abutting a national park, back when the housing market was steady. While some neighbors have since been foreclosed upon, Warner is resurfacing his flagstone deck. (more)

Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio is facing foreclosure on a home he jointly owns in Tallahassee, according to court documents obtained by POLITICO, though his campaign insists the issue has been resolved. (more)

It’s a pink-letter year for Republican women. This season, more female GOP candidates than in any previous election cycle are running for national and state offices, beating the previous record year – 1994 – by 38 women. That’s a surprising development for the GOP. After all, this is the Party that as recently as last fall launched a “Republican Accomplishments” webpage and failed to include a single female representative, senator, Supreme Court justice, governor, cabinet member, or vice presidential candidate. (more)

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) damages both American health care and its human capital. For employers, health care is a maintenance contract for supporting optimal physical and mental functioning of their employees – their human capital. (more)

It’s getting difficult to keep track of all the energy proposals that are on the table. We’ve got Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s (D-N.M.) original American Clean Energy Leadership Act, as well as the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act that passed the House last year with a 20 percent renewable energy standard and ambitious emissions cuts. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) released their CLEAR Act with a cap-and-dividends program shortly before Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) released their American Power Act with a cap-and-trade program. Not to mention, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is attempting to get in the game with greenhouse gas regulations, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and others are attempting to stop them. Who can keep track of all the legislative proposals in the chaos? (more)

At the invitation of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a dozen American “policy-wonks” from differing perspectives travelled to Germany in December 2009. The Foundation was interested in our observations of the German social health system. My interest was how consumerism and individual choice worked in Germany. (more)

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia congressional seat that’s been held by a Democrat for generations is now up for grabs after 14-term incumbent Rep. Alan Mollohan was swept out of office on a wave of voter unrest that an opponent called a referendum on President Barack Obama. (more)