Wolf Politics

This article is a brief glimpse at one of the endless issues that special interest groups can have a influence upon. According to the New York Times, legislation to remove the gray wolf from protection by the Endangered Species Act, or alternately to exempt only those located in Idaho in Wyoming, is currently under discussion. As the article states, "Either would set a terrible precedent, opening the door for special-interest groups to push other inconvenient species off the list. The bills would undercut one of the primary reasons for the act, which was to relieve Congress of the impossible task of legislating protections species by species and leave the final determination to scientists and wildlife management professionals."

Pajama Party: New to Congress, Many Members Plan to Sleep Over

It seems more members of Congress will be sleeping in their offices come January. I think you know of my long time fascination with living conditions endured by our most treasured of public servants.

See also

[1] A Departure from Animal House.

[2] Frat House For Jesus: The entity behind C Street.

[3] The Girls in the House.

[4] House Members Sleeping In The Office.

The Palins Ensure They Stay in the News

This article takes a brief look at Sarah Palin's continuing efforts to stay in the news. While Palin may not have established herself yet as a definite presidential candidate for 2012, her current cross-country book tour will be taking her to key states on the electoral map.

Lame-Duck Session Looking Longer

Democrats are scrambling to get things done during the lame-duck session, but worried about being stalled by republicans or even by the "lame-ducks" who have likely lost their motivation along with losing re-election. The title of this article makes it seem like the drawing out of the session is a big deal, but as I understand this, the usual "target date" to adjourn is rarely met.

Crazy Alaska

If Sarah Palin was not enough, now Alaska has more problems with the Republican Party. The Republican primary winner, John Miller, lost the election to Lisa Murkowski, who he beat in the primary due to ballot write ins. Now he is taking this to the courts over the matter of counting ballots with spelling errors.

Censure

Someone posted about Charlie Rangel earlier and how a ethics committee reccommended a censure for him. Well, I didn't exactly know what that meant. Maybe I should have from past classes and just didn't pay attention, which wouldn't be entirely too shocking. Well, here is a document explaining what exactly a censure is. It is basically a big public reprimand.

And the winner is?

When passengers on airlines have to now remove prostatic parts to prove they will not blow up airplans, but continue to allow women wearing their hijabs, we as a country have lost our way. Israel has screaning process correct, they profile. Seems to be working fine, but until we as a country make our representatives understand this enhanced searching or having your body scanned, 80 year old women and citizens with prostatic parts are the suspects, not the people that look the part.

Liberal Education

Your thoughts on your liberal education might be worth $2,000.

Sarah Palin's Alaska

I figured this would be relevant since Sarah Palin claimed that she could beat President Obama in 2012, and the candidate that she backed for the Alaskan Senate seat lost. It's pretty evident that Ms. Palin is using this show to advance her political career, at one point she talks about the fence she built as an example for what America could do to keep out illegal immigrants, and in another she elaborates on her political catchphrase about "mama grizzlies"

Miller Sues to Prevent Alaska Vote Certification

House members use lottery to choose offices

I thought this was pretty interesting that it is pure luck of whether or not you get a good office.

Mark McGwire tesifying to Congress

I know we talked about this in class so i posted it. Its a short video but everyone knows he lied to congress about taking steriods but eventually fesses up to it. Not a big deal because everyone knew he was on steriods plus now he for sure wont be in the Hall of Fame which he doesnt belong in anyways so that's a good thing.

Obama's electoral coalition

Follow up to my previous article about the Dems shrinking coalition, this time focusing on the President and the elctoral map. I was stunned at the results from the PPP(D) generic polling (we can argue about generic polling but I think it has some value). Especially him being down so much in New Hampshire, Nevada and other blueish states he should still be favorable in.

Call for Censure for Rangel

This blogging feature from the New York Times offers an interesting look at the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct in its proceedings today over the case of Representative Charles Rangel, who was earlier this week charged with committing numerous ethics violations.
The Committee eventually concluded that Rangel be subjected to a formal censure, which, if approved by the House, will entail the public rebuking of Rangel before his colleagues by the Speaker. As we continue to discuss their importance in class, this is an interesting glimpse of a committee in action and its power to influence and affect those who serve in Congress.

Pelosi wins

Pelosi has been elected to lead the democrats in the House as the minority leader. This article ties into some of the information discussed on Monday about house leadership.

Midwest Battle Gounds

I thought this was a good informative article. It highlights some key reasons why the Midwest voted so strongly in favor of the GOP in the recent midterms. Most notably it points to white blue collar workers with no college degree as the main demographic responsible for the unfortunate 2010 election results.

This, however, is not surprising. The hardest hit group by the economic downturn has indeed been this demographic. Milwaukee, for example, has recently jumped from the 8th poorest city in the U.S. to the 4th. It is understandable that the fear of job loss and poverty should arouse desires for a shift in leadership. Yet, in this case, making that shift meant voting against one’s own interests. If the blue collar workers of Wisconsin are struggling now, they will be even worse off if Republicans cut construction projects such as the rail, badger care, various government jobs, and many important social programs.

Dems shrinking coalition?

Great article that really disects the voting breakdown, particularily in suburban and swing areas

Rangel Is Found to Have Violated House Ethics Rules

Former Democratic Ways and Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel (NY-15) has been found guilty of 11 ethics violations. I wonder if his awfully close election would have gone the other way had this ruling had come out a couple of months ago...

Redistricting Hype Blurs Reality

A good number of political scientists explaining gerrymandering.

McConnell Caves On Earmarks, Pledges To Vote For Moratorium

Jim DeMint, taking care of the GOP brand name.

History Suggests That This Year's Midterm Losers May Try Again

Losers not going away is sorta a sub-theme of the course, no? Also, I think at least one of you is doing a project on a 2010 loser.

More on the Unexperienced Freshman in Congress

Here is also a link to a cool interactive map that shows all the newcomers and what their previous jobs experience is.

Obama reelection

This article discusses the recent gain of Republican seats in Congress from the midterm election and what it could mean for Obama in 2012. The article specifically looks at the states Obama won in the 2008 election that voted Republican for the congressional election and what this could mean for Obama in 2012. Another factor that could effect Obama in 2012 is his currently low approval ratings.

Most Inexperienced Freshmen Elected to Congress Since 1948

This article talks about the impact that Washinton's newcomers might have. The article does make the point that history suggests that Washington is more likely to change them. I think it will be interesting to watch what these newbies do or don't do...and if they will stick to promised term limits or if Washington power will sway them.

Tea Party and the RNC already going at it

I think this is pretty interesting considering youd think the RNC would try and make Tea party members part of the party.

Fox News, Republican? NO WAY!

This had been mentioned in class on Wednesday, so I looked into it a little bit and here it is, straight from the democratic white house.

Tax Cuts for all

The tax cuts might be extended for everyone and that is including the wealthy portion of Americans. According to the article the administration wants to keep its promise to the middle class and is willing to reach an agreement on the tax cuts with republicans.

Despite Losses, Nancy Pelosi to Run for House Post

As we discussed in class this week, party leadership can contribute significantly to the shaping of both a political party's power and agenda in Congress. This New York Times article discusses Nancy Pelosi's recent decision to run in next week's party elections in an effort to remain the leader of House Democrats, and whether or not Pelosi's decision may ultimately have a negative impact on the 2012 elections.

2010 Election

Here is an interesting article by the Pew Research Group. They look at Religion a little bit more close and it shows some interesting numbers.

New Speaker of the House and President

Even though President Obama and John Boehner are from different parties, they seem to have a lot in common. Which reminds people when Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich were in their office positions together. ... Is this a good or bad thing?

The 2010 Census

Gays and the GOP

The gay lobby gave the GOP some gains with the mid term elections, as they feel the GOP will be more inturne to there issues.

2012 Senate Race

Although the elections just ended, those running in 2012 are just about to kick off their campaigns. This article is solely about the Senate, however those in the House will have to start getting ready for their campaigns as well, just like we discussed in class.

A Historic Shift

This interactive feature from the New York Times takes a look at the national trends and demographic groups that played a large role this year's election results.

2012

Its never too early too look to the next election cycle. For all the talk of Republicans trying to win the Senate this year, that was likely unrealistic because 18 of the seats up this year were Rupublican seats, and many of the Democratic seats up were pretty safe (Cal, Conn, Del, New York x2, Was, Ore, Haw, and Vermont. But the 2012 Senate elections are a different story. There are no fewer than 14 Democratic seats that, based on the current climate, that will be very vulnurable.

Welcome, Senate Conservatives

This Op-Ed is AWESOME, Jim DeMint isn't my favorite Senator but he nails it in this piece. He discusses a lot of the pressures that face newcomers to Congress and it touches on a lot of what we've discussed in class with regard to the institutional challenges that have to be overcome

Republican Game Plan for 2010

This New York Times article talks about the Republican's game plan for taking over the House and how they have been planning it since before President Obama's election. Does anyone else think that if the Democrats had called them out more strongly on their methods they would not have lost as many seats? Or were national tides too strong to go against?

The GOP and their redistricting

This article ties in directly with our discussion on Wednesday and goes into a little more detail on the process than we did in class.

An ad encouraging latinos to NOT vote..

i saw this on the colbert report. i think this is an interesting and crazy ad to put on air. i think it was pulled right away though.

Up To 2.2 Million People Could Vote Tuesday

A turnout projection for Wisconsin from the Government Accountability Board.