The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority: healthcare.

NMJ Articles

▪America, Stop Eating Your Young ▪Time for a Resignation ▪The Constitution, Nazis & The Corpse Man ▪Syria...Seriously ▪To Faithfully Execute the Presidency of the US ▪The John B. Gordon Story ▪The Tea Parties, The GOP & Making It Work ▪ More analysis, editorials & commentary

Politics Click the title to read more NMJ coverage...
Congressional Dems Blame Rahm Emanuel for Demise of Healthcare
Source: The Hill
Democrats in Congress are holding White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel accountable for his part in the collapse of healthcare reform. The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority. The share of the blame comes as cracks are beginning to show in Emanuel’s once-impregnable political armor.

Murtha's PA House Seat the Latest Democrat Worry
Source: Politico.com
Rep. John Murtha’s (D-PA) untimely death Monday makes the political map even more daunting for House Democrats, who will have to defend another highly competitive seat in what is shaping up to be a hostile election year. His passing means there will be a special election held during the spring to fill the remainder of his term. Once the congressman’s vacancy is declared, Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) has 10 days to call the special election date, which can be held 60 days or less from his declaration.

Welfare Back as Campaign Issue for GOP in California
Source: The Sacramento Bee
Ronald Reagan singled out what he called a "welfare queen" for abusing government aid. Newt Gingrich pushed welfare reform as part of his Contract With America. Now, Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, the top Republican candidates for California governor, are bringing back welfare as a key issue in their quest for primary votes.

New Orleans Elects First White Mayor Since 1978
Source: The Washington Times
Frustrated by term-limited Mayor Ray Nagin's leadership of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, voters elected Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu to succeed him Saturday, turning to a political scion to speed up the city's recovery. Mr. Landrieu, 49, became the majority-black city's first white mayor since 1978, the year his father, Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu, left the office. He is the brother of US Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA).

Dem Nominee for Illinois Lt. Governor Drops Out Amid Furor
Source: AP/FOX News
The Democratic nominee for Illinois' lieutenant governor dropped out of the race Sunday night, less than a week after winning the nomination, amid a political uproar about his past. Announcing his decision at a Chicago bar packed with patrons watching the Super Bowl, a tearful Scott Lee Cohen said the Democrats were not certain they could win with him on the ticket.

IL Democrats Pressure Pawnbroker Lt. Gov. Nominee to Quit Race
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Illinois Democrats still reeling from last year's corruption scandal around former Gov. Rod Blagojevich pressured their new nominee for lieutenant governor on Friday to step aside as more embarrassing revelations about his past emerged. Scott Lee Cohen, a pawnbroker and political neophyte who pumped $2 million into his campaign, has been responding to charges of domestic abuse, steroid use and adultery since he won the primary for lieutenant governor on Tuesday.

Pelosi Silent on Money Saved by Promised Crackdown on Waste
Source: The Hill
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (P-CA), who touted House Democratic efforts to crack down on wasteful spending last year, won’t say how much the initiative would save taxpayers. Pressed for details, the Speaker’s office this week declined to specify what recommendations Pelosi received from the various committees; whether every committee submitted a list of proposed budget cuts; how the recommendations she did receive were selected or ignored; and how much in savings was identified.

Foul-Mouthed Rahm Emanuel Bitten, Ironically, by Political Correctness
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Rahm Emanuel, the famously foul-mouthed enforcer in the Obama administration, is learning the hard way the meaning of contrition. Not only has he been forced to apologies for his unfortunate use of the phrase "f---ing retarded" in a fit of annoyance at some liberal activists in a recent West Wing meeting, but he has now invited a delegation from the Special Olympics to visit him at the White House to hear him take the "R-word pledge."

Brown to Be Sworn In a Week Early
Source: AP/Yahoo! News
Republican Scott Brown is poised to take his Senate seat a week earlier than he planned, ending the Democrats' supermajority in just enough time to block President Barack Obama's choice of a union attorney for a top labor job. On Wednesday, Brown said he wanted to move up the swearing-in so that he could participate in upcoming Senate votes. A swearing-in ceremony was set for 5pm.

GOP Finds Loophole in Democrats' Reconciliation Ploy
Source: The Hill
As it turns out, Senate Democrats may not be able to force healthcare legislation through the chamber on a simple majority vote. Republicans say they have found a loophole in the budget reconciliation process that could allow them to offer an indefinite number of amendments. Though it has never been done, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) says he’s prepared to test the Senate’s stamina to block the Democrats from using the process to expedite changes to the healthcare bill.

Dem. Senators Spent Weekend with Bank, Energy, Tobacco Lobbyists
Source: Politico.com
Twelve Democratic Senators spent last weekend in Miami Beach raising money from top lobbyists for oil, drug, and other corporate interests that they often decry, according to a guest list for the event obtained by Politico.com, including top lobbying officials from the American Bankers Association, the tobacco company Altria, the oil company Marathon, several drug manufacturers, the defense contractor Lockheed, and most of the large independent lobbying firms

Obama, Republicans Spar at House GOP Event
Source: The Wall Street Journal
President Barack Obama sparred Friday with House Republicans in an unusual 90-minute dialogue that exemplified the political gridlock prevailing in the nation's capital. At the House Republicans' annual issues retreat, Mr. Obama, at times combative and confident, challenged Republicans to find ways to work with his administration and Democrats in Congress and set aside the rhetoric that defined much of the political debate of the past year. "It's not just your side. It's our side as well," he said.

          Please Contribute Today!