Real Republican Majority Blog

Stories You Should Know (12/22/09)

Elizabeth — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:17:35 +0000

New York Daily News (New York, NY)
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is expected to announce Tuesday he is not running for U.S. Senate or anything else in 2010, effectively ending his storied – and often stormy – electoral career, The Daily News has learned.

Washington Post (Washington, DC)
The Senate cleared the second of three key procedural hurdles on President Obama’s health-care legislation early Tuesday with another party-line vote, continuing the effort to pass the bill before Christmas.

New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
The number of Republican candidates who will chase their party’s nomination for Governor remained at two Monday when House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, announced he will not go for it.

Washington Times (Washington, DC)
Michael S. Steele, Republican National Committee chairman, is using his title to market himself for paid appearances nationwide, personally profiting from speeches with fees of up to $20,000 at colleges, trade associations and other groups – an unusual practice criticized by a string of past party chairmen.

Stories You Should Know (12/21/09)

Elizabeth — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:08:45 +0000

USA Today (USA)
Dubbing them the “Louisiana purchase” and the “Cornhusker kickback,” Republicans on Sunday attacked special deals for individual states included in the health care bill heading for a Senate vote this week.

Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA)
Leaders of the world’s largest economies agreed late Friday to an accord on steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions, a deal hailed by President Obama as an “unprecedented breakthrough” in international negotiations but denounced by critics as too weak to avert the harshest effects of global warming.

Courier Journal (Louisville, KY)
The spokesman for U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul resigned Thursday after the campaign acknowledged that he maintained a page on a Web site that included racist remarks and suggested the government bore some responsibility for the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The Hartfordite (Hartford, CT)
Former State Democratic Party Chairman Ed Marcus believes the time has come for Connecticut Democrats to go with another candidate for the U.S. Senate instead of Sen. Chris Dodd.

Stories You Should Know (12/18/09)

Elizabeth — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:13:38 +0000

The Hill (Washington, DC)
The Senate is heading toward a Christmas Eve vote to pass landmark healthcare legislation, but instead of holiday cheer, Democrats and Republicans are digging in for trench warfare.

LA Times (Los Angeles, CA)
President Obama exhorted world leaders at international climate talks to “recognize it is better to act than talk” and seal a framework agreement on controlling greenhouse gases.

New York Daily News (New York, NY)
Gov. Paterson made a surprise visit to a birthday fundraiser Thursday night for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the man many Democrats hope runs for his job next year. He did not contribute.
New York Times (New York, NY)
The Senate Banking Committee voted 16-7 on Thursday morning to reward Benjamin S. Bernanke with a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Stories You Should Know (12/17/09)

Elizabeth — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:54:07 +0000

USA Today (USA)
Democrats in the House Wednesday muscled through a $100 million, so-called, jobs bill without any Republican support.

Washington Post (Washington, DC)
The United States pledged Thursday to help build a $100 billion annual fund by 2020 to help poor countries cope with climate change but said its commitment depends on whether the nations gathered here forge a substantive environmental pact that includes “transparency” on tracking emissions cuts.

LA Times (Los Angeles, CA)
President Obama leaves for stalemated climate talks in Copenhagen today facing global expectations that he can salvage an agreement on greenhouse gases as well as heavy domestic pressure not to sign a deal that could kill American jobs.

The Hill (Washington, DC)
Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) campaign has asked the Democrats’ reelection arm to write a memo detailing how he can use funds in his campaign account if he retires.

Stories You Should Know (12/15/09)

Elizabeth — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:10:43 +0000

Wall Street Journal (USA)
Sen. John McCain kept a relatively low profile for months after he lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack Obama. Those days are over. In the health-care battle, the Arizona Republican has suddenly emerged as the John McCain of old — a vigorous political combatant.

Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
The Republican nominee for US Senate, state Senator Scott P. Brown, escalated his challenge to Democrat Martha Coakley yesterday by accepting invitations to seven debates during the final four weeks of the campaign.

San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, CA)
Former South Bay Rep. Tom Campbell, asked about buzz that he’s being urged to rethink his 2010 GOP gubernatorial run — and enter the U.S. Senate race — was unusually tightlipped Monday.

Politico (Washington, DC)
President Barack Obama has decided to move some of the roughly 215 war-on-terror prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to an empty state prison in rural Illinois, about 150 miles west of Chicago.

Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA)
The idea of expanding Medicare to people as young as 55 seemed key to a healthcare compromise last week, but after unexpected opposition from centrists such as Joe Lieberman, it appears doomed.

Special Election Declared in HI-1 Race

Elizabeth — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:44:27 +0000

HI-1 Rep. Neil Abercrombie resigned his position late last week to run for Governor, a seat being vacated by retiring Republican Linda Lingle. This has created an open seat special election to replace Abercrombie. Though no date for the special election has been announced, RMC endorsed common sense GOP candidate Charles Djou has filed paperwork to run for the House Seat.

Djou has been cited as a strong and very real threat to the Democrats in this traditionally blue seat by “in the beltway” publications such as Politico and The Hill. Djou, a real Republican, is an officer in the Army Reserve and is a popular Honolulu City Council member. He previously served as a well-liked Republican floor leader for the Hawaii state House. Djou has earned a reputation as a strong fiscal conservative with a reputation for sticking up for small business and Hawaiian farmers.

We will continue to update you on the developments for this race.

Stories You Should Know (12/14/09)

Elizabeth — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:58:40 +0000

Politico (Washington, DC)
In the midst of a gubernatorial campaign, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) announced Friday that he will be resigning from Congress, necessitating a special election to fill out the remainder of his term.

New York Times (New York, NY)
In a surprise setback for Democratic leaders, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, said on Sunday that he would vote against the health care legislation in its current form.

Wall Street Journal (USA)
Top White House economic advisers on Sunday delivered a unified message that creating jobs would take priority over tackling the ballooning federal deficit, and suggested that employment growth could resume by spring, more optimistic than previous forecasts.

San Francisco Chronicle (Washington, DC)
GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner – aiming to stop the momentum of a wealthy competitor, Meg Whitman – will put an additional $15 million of his own money into his campaign, his spokesman said Sunday.

Reid Must Let Republicans Sit at the Healthcare Table

Elizabeth — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:57:04 +0000

It is interesting that Senator Harry Reid needs moderate Republicans to pass healthcare reform, yet he refuses to allow us a “seat at the table”.

Today, Reid is trumpeting a new compromise he made with nine other Democratic Senators to help push through healthcare. This comes after some Democratic senators threaten to withhold their votes due to the failure of the Nelson Amendment. Now, Reid is back to courting Republican Senators Snowe and Collins.

It’s bad enough that Reid won’t allow Republicans a voice in this debate over a large bill that completely revamps the American healthcare system, could greatly impact the American economy, and costs American taxpayers almost a trillion dollars. But to court our votes- without allowing our input- is insulting. Why should Republicans stick their necks on the line and vote for his package when our concerns, views, and beliefs won’t be allowed in discussions to shape or change the bill?

Perhaps, Senator Snowe said it best in a pre-Thanksgiving speech that is being touted by the Wall Street Journal today. Senator Snowe noted that throughout history, major social legislation success stories have been a bipartisan effort. Social Security had a strong Republican backing, despite its Democratic roots. Medicare and Welfare Reform, the latter pushed by President Bill Clinton, saw the same. She noted that the lack of bipartisan dialogue and input wasn’t just troubling, but a sign that Senator Reid and the Democrats were more concerned with pushing healthcare reform through than “getting it right.”

Senator Reid needs to make a decision- if our votes matter, then we should be included in talks, even if it means that passage won’t come as quickly as he hopes. To pass a bill without bipartisan support doesn’t just send a message of partisan politics at work, but undermines the initiatives and tells Americans that this bill wasn’t important enough to gain the approval of one half of the American political system.

Stories You Should Know (12/11/09)

Elizabeth — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:48:52 +0000

Politico (Washington, DC)
President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize speech Thursday is drawing praise from some unlikely quarters – conservative Republicans – who likened Obama’s defense of “just wars” to the worldview of his predecessor, Republican George W. Bush.

FOXNews (USA)
Sen. Max Baucus gave a $14,000 raise last year to the female staffer he was dating and took her on a government-funded trip to Asia and the Middle East, Politico.com reported Friday.

USA Today (USA)
A $1.1 trillion spending bill laced with budget increases and more than 5,000 congressional pet projects passed the House on Thursday amid criticism from Republicans and watchdog groups.

The Hill (Washington, DC)
House Minority John Boehner (R-Ohio) will move Friday to force a vote on ending the $700 billion bailout program.

Google News (USA)
South Carolina’s first lady Jenny Sanford has filed for divorce months after her husband publicly confessed an affair with an Argentine woman. Sanford’s handling of the situation and refusal to play the role of traditional scorned wife has earned her praise from across the nation.

Stories You Should Know (12/10/09)

Elizabeth — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:38:02 +0000

Wall Street Journal (USA)
Democrats began the year as masters of the political universe, winning the White House and increasing their majorities in Congress. But the year is ending badly for them. Their top initiative, health care, is deeply unpopular. Congress’s approval rating is 26%, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s is 28%, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s is an anemic 14%.

Washington Post (Washington, DC)
The energized “tea party” movement, which upended this year’s political debate with noisy anti-government protests, is preparing to shake up the 2010 elections by channeling money and supporters to conservative candidates set to challenge both Democrats and Republicans.

Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA)
As President Obama began selling his new jobs package, he was pressed Wednesday from both the left and the right, with Republicans warning about ballooning deficits and black lawmakers seeking bolder action on an unemployment rate that approaches 16% for African Americans.

USA Today (USA)
Hospital and doctor groups that have generally supported the effort to revamp the nation’s health care system pushed back Wednesday against a new idea proposed by Democratic leaders to let younger Americans buy into Medicare.