39 Senators Vote to Quash Earmarks

Today on Capital Hill, thirty-nine senators voted in support of a three-year moratorium on appropriations earmarks, the strongest vote against pork barrel legislation to date. In fact, the 56-39 vote on the moratorium contrasts with one last March which was defeated 68-29. Seven Democrats (Evan Bayh of Indiana; Michael Bennet of Colorado; Russ Feingold of Wisconsin; Claire McCaskill of Missouri; Bill Nelson of Florida, Colorado’s Udall, and Mark Warner of Virginia) joined the majority Republican vote and eight Republicans (Robert Bennett of Utah; Thad Cochran of Mississippi; Susan Collins of Maine; James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Richard Lugar of Indiana; Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Richard Shelby of Alabama, and George Voinovich of Ohio) defected.

If the parties cannot agree on a budget for 2011 without earmarks, House Speaker Boehner may have to fight the fight next year, when the GOP will be in power and able to rewrite the 2011 budget with deeper spending cuts. Incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that his party would not consider bills containing earmarks for a vote when they take the reigns. “That is the intention, that we’re really serious about changing the culture in Washington,” Cantor said. “Earmarks have become symptomatic of a culture gone bad.”

This is a step in the right direction. The list of Republican defectors should figure prominently in the next wave of senatorial elections. There is no justifying duck ponds and private airports with our current deficit.

New York 1 Still Undecided

So, finally, officially, we know that CA-11 stayed blue at the hands of Democrat Jerry McNerney, CA-20 went to Democrat Jim Costa, KY-6 stayed in the hands of Democrat Ben Chandler and VA-11 was won narrowly by Democrat Gerry Connolly. But, that ends the bad news as IL-8 was won by Republican Joe Walsh, NY-25 by Republican challenger Ann Marie Buerkle and TX-27 by Republican Blake Farenhold.

BUT, that still leaves pesky NY-1. Democrat Tim Bishop is now in the lead and his prospects look favorable, but this race has still not been called. Republican challenger Randy Altschuler hopes to lessen Bishop's several hundred vote lead, but the outlook is growing dismal. "It will be up to a judge to decide the fate of scores of challenged ballots, but the fact that Altschuler has challenged more ballots is not a good sign."

So, at worst, the Republicans gained 64 House seats and at best, 65. Not a bad days work.

64% Will Skip Black Friday-like Situations

Eight to ten percent more Americans are choosing to avoid the crowds this holiday season than last by shopping online. The Rasmussen Reports survey shows that 64% say they'll do at least some of their holiday shopping online this year. Americans are becoming more and more tech saavy; however, 35% still say they will not go online for any of their holiday shopping.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Enjoy the turkey, the stuffing, the pie and especially, the booze.

61% Oppose New Airport Security Measures

Sixty-one percent of likely voters oppose the newly enhanced security measures at the airports and also found that 48% said they would probably seek alternatives to flying because of the new measures. 

For the sake of those of us that have no choice but to fly, I hope that the knuckleheads don't refuse the pat downs and TSA personnel doesn't unnecessarily grope. Have you seen those people?   

More House News

With Bob Etheridge in North Carolina conceding to Republican Renee Ellmers on Friday and Republican Andy Barr also defeated by Chandler in Kentucky, the GOP gains stand at 61 seats. At this juncture, only five races remain:

New York 1- Democrat Tim Bishop currently holds a razor thin 15-vote lead over Republican Randy Altschuler and the absentee and provisional votes will not be fully counted until tomorrow or the end of the week. Hold on.

New York 25- Republican Ann Marie Buerkle expanded her lead over Democrat Dan Maffei to 567. Since only 200 challenged ballot remain to be counted, it appears this race will be called and some have reported Maffei's concession:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/253835/maffei-concedes-robert-costa

Texas 27- Republican Blake Farenthold continues to lead Democrat Solomon Ortiz by nearly 800 votes in this manual recount. It has been reported that Ortiz has conceded to Farenthold after the recount, but I'm not sure when it will be called.

California 11- Democrat Jerry McNerney has a 1,700 vote-lead over Republican David Harmer, who has yet to concede, but likely will do so by the end of the week.

California 20- Democrat Jim Costa has a 2,422- vote lead over Republican Andy Vidak, who has yet to concede. Again, this one will likely be called this week for Costa.

So, where does that leave us? It appears the Republicans have secured 63 seats and could grab one more in New York 1, where all the votes are still being counted and only 15 votes separate the pols.  

Buerkle Poised for Win

Apparently, Republican Ann Marie Buerkle's lead has widened to 567 votes over Democratic incumbent Dan Maffei and it is beginning to look grim for Maffei. The matter will come to a head Tuesday before the court in Syracuse when their lawyers duke it out over 240 challenged votes. After this, Maffei may ask for a recount, but it is unclear whether he will.

Even with the 240 challenged votes, Maffei can't pull this off. We can only hope he concedes and doesn't drag things on with a needless recount. When he concedes, it will put the Republicans at plus 62 with five outstanding races still yet to be determined.

Results In: Ellmers Bests Etheridge

Democrat Bob Etheridge has finally admitted defeat to Republican Renee Ellmers in North Carolina’s 2nd District race and will concede today at 3 p.m. The recount Etheridge demanded shows that instead of 1,489 votes ahead, Ellmers actually won by 1,489 votes. Excuse me. The final recount was 93,878 votes to 92,389 for Etheridge. Thank goodness the grabby loose cannon has been forced into early retirement. 

With this race concluded, only California 11, California 20, Illinois 8, Kentucky 6, New York 25 and Texas 27 remain to be determined. As it stands now, Republicans gained 61 seats and are poised to gain as many as 66, since it looks like McNerney will hold on.

Rangel Asks House to Go Easy on Him

House Representative Charles Rangel asked today for “fairness and mercy” as he awaits his sentencing from the ethics committee, which found him guilty on 11 counts of violating House ethics rules. The ethics panel will meet at noon Thursday to consider his sanction, although most have promised it will be nothing but a reprimand.

How can 40 witnesses, 30,000 pages of transcripts, over 550 exhibits measure against my forty years of service and commitment to this body I love so much? I ask the committee in reviewing the sanctions to take that into serious consideration, as well as the effects this ordeal has had on my wife, family and constituents. I hope my four decades of service merit a sanction that is in keeping with and no greater than House precedents and also contains a drop of fairness and mercy.

In speaking, Rangel finally admitted to wrongdoing in making his financial disclosures over the years, but did not go into any specifics about his "omission." 

I would say he made mistakes. Any non-politician would've been fined into bankruptcy or in jail. He is a disgrace. A reprimand is a joke and so is the ethics process.

Voters Say Extend the Tax Cuts to All

According to Rasmussen, voters want Congress to continue the Bush tax cuts when they enter into their lame duck session. Specifically, 50% of likely voters want them extended for all Americans rather than continuing them for all but the "wealthy." Forty-four percent think they should be extended for everyone but the "wealthy."

President Obama insisted that only tax cuts for individuals who earn less than $200,000 annually and couples with a yearly income of less than $250,000 be extended temporarily. However, after the midterm elections he expressed a willingness to perhaps temporarily extend all of the cuts. If Congress fails to act by December 31, 2010, the effective federal tax rates of all tax-paying Americans will increase to pre-Bush levels.

Bishop Not Declared Winner

Yesterday I wrote that Politico's map declared Tim Bishop the winner of the race in New York's 1st District, and it did. However, that is apparently a mistake because the Democrat is actually trailing Republican Randy Altschuler by 383 votes and Bishop's campaign is calling for a manual recount which is presumably happening now.

"Quantitative Easing"

Bishop Beats Altschuler?

Politico hasn't written a story about New York's 1st District, but it's calling the election in Democrat Tim Bishop's favor on its election map. The last story it printed featured Republican Randy Altschuler leading Democratic incumbent Tim Bishop by 383 votes and Bishop's campaign calling for a full manual recount. What's the deal? 

Self-Imposed Term Limits from GOP Winners?

Get this.  Half of the new GOP House freshmen and a few of the newly elected GOP senators have promised to limit their congressional tenures and to support new term limits legislation. The self-imposed limits typically range from six to 12 years.

“By term limiting myself to eight years, I can focus on doing what it takes to solve the nation’s problems, instead of doing what it takes to further my political ambitions,” read a press release issued by Rep.-elect Jon Runyan of New Jersey after his primary victory.

While there’s no consensus on what an appropriate length of time in Washington might be, this is a welcome promise. Since we know the full Congress would never vote for a constitutional amendment, politicians are right to force this issue this way. It has to help keep them at least a little more honest.

Miller's Spelling Campaign

Republican Joe Miller, the Republican that won the Alaskan Senatorial primary, is suing in federal court to prevent the counting of any write-in ballots in which a candidate's name is not spelled correctly. Obviously, this takes aim at write-in candidate, sore loser, incumbent Lisa Murkowski. Apparently, the campaign is hoping to have a hearing on the matter as soon as possible.

Alaska's election law states that write-in ballots must be marked with a filled-in oval and with the desired candidate's last name or the name as it appears on the declaration of candidacy. But as election officials deliberated how to move forward when Murkowski announced her independent bid to become Alaska's first successful statewide candidate, they said they would use "discretion," as well as work with a state attorney, to determine how to count votes that might misspell Murkowski's name. 

How exactly will the court decipher the more than 85,000 write-in votes cast? I suppose a common sense approach would hold as even though Murkowski was only one of about 150 write-in candidates, it is unlikely another write-in candidate shares a similar name. 

At last count, the write-in ballots held a 5.5 point advantage over Miller, with absentee and early votes from Juneau, Nome and Fairbanks left to be counted. Like many other races, this is to be continued...

Three? House Races Go to Dems

More than a week after the elections, we still have some outstanding races, but the field is beginning to narrow. On Monday, we learned Washington-2 was lost to Rick Larsen by 2%. Tuesday, Virginia-11, a northern area of Virginia and one of only two blue areas, was also lost by less than a 1,000 votes to Gerry Connolly.

Now, we see our chances in California-11 grow dim. Jerry McNerney, the current California Democratic Representative, has more than quadrupled his lead over Republican David Harmer.

McNerney led by 2,269 votes Wednesday after Alameda County reported its results. He had been ahead by just 441 votes in the 11th District race on Tuesday. Harmer has started raising money for a potential recount. Both candidates are still waiting on absentee tallies from Contra Costa County and San Joaquin County. Those returns are expected by the end of the week.

Voters Optimistic on Washington?

A new survey finds that the number of voters expecting more partisanship in Washington has declined to its lowest level since March of 2009. Specifically, 49% of likely voters think politics will be more partisan over the coming year. This figure represents a decline from 58% a month ago and the first time the number has fallen into the 40s since the first two months of Obama's presidency.

Similarly, 27% believe there will be more cooperation between the political parties over the next year, which is up 10 points from a month ago and the highest level of optimism since June 2009. Although, 25% of voters are not sure what will happen to the partisan divide. 

Nine Open House Races Prevent Final Tally

A week after the elections, nine races in the House of Representatives are still too close to call:

NY-01: Democratic incumbent Tim Bishop led by approximately 3,500 votes on election night, and many called the race, but a subsequent recanvassing shifted the momentum to Republican Randy Altschuler, who now leads by 392 votes. Within the next week, the race will be determined by about 9,000 absentee and military ballots which both campaigns are studying now. 

NY-25: Syracuse and suburban Rochester were narrowly split on their candidate. Incumbent Democrat Dan Maffei trails Republican Ann Marie Buerkle by 684 votes. A recent recanvassing resulted in both candidates losing votes, but Maffei's total was marginalized more. The campaigns are now counting 12,000 absentee ballots. 

TX-27: In Texas, Republican Blake Fahrenhold is  up by 8/10 of a point, or 800 votes, against Solomon Ortiz, the Democrat.

IL-08: In Illinois, the Republican, Joe Walsh is beating Democrat Melissa Bean by less than 450 votes and this will come down to the absentee ballots as well.

CA-20: Republican Andy Vidak is besting Democrat Jim Costa by a score of 50.8% to 49.2%, which amounts to about 1,000 votes.

CA-11: Democrat Jerry McNerney has a less than 400-vote lead over Republican challenger David Harmer, which is obviously, too close to call.

WA-2: With 95.3% reporting, the Democrat, Rick Larsen has a 4,000 vote lead over Republican John Koster. This is still close, but appears that it will go blue.

KY-06: Democrat Ben Chandler has an exact 600-vote lead over Republican Andy Barr in the blue grass state.

VA-11: The Democrat Gerry Connolly has about a 1,000 vote-lead over Republican challenger Keith Fimian in a northern Virginia territory.

So, it looks as if the GOP is poised to take about five more seats, bringing their total to 65 if the absentee votes lean conservatively, as they generally have in the past. The crazy thing? The two recounts underway in New York State, where the GOP has already plucked 5, could make New York the state in which the GOP nets the most House seats this cycle! As it now stands, New York is currently tied with Pennsylvania and Ohio at five seats apiece. If Altschuler or Buerkle win their race, New York will have lead the House count!

Chris Matthews is an Ass

In his election night coverage, Chris Matthews, obviously ruffled by the night's events and Michelle Bachmann's sign about the loss of his "tingle," demonstrated a complete lack of professionalism and a blatant political bias. I know he was upset about the night's events and the sign behind Bachmann that asked him about his present "tingle," but he really acted like an ass. She should refuse to appear again on his show unless he apologizes. Decorum in political discussion is essential in a democracy.

On top of his rudeness, Matthews protests that he never used the word "tingle" when describing the feeling he got when the then Democratic Presidential hopeful spoke. Actually, what he said on two separate occasions was more embarrassing. He first described the feeling as a "furrowing up his leg" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m9Gbb6NSwM and then as a "thrill, up my leg, all over me." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVwWDj0VtG4 Yuck. 

Although I disdain Chris Matthews, the person, I am more upset that he is able to constantly push his liberalism onto unsuspecting seniors that have watched channel 4 since its inception and still don't realize cable exists. (By the way, Fox News had higher ratings than MSNBC and CNN combined on election night.) In his show after the elections, he actually suggested that the Republicans forced Obama to the left. See if you can watch this without laughing. I couldn't. The text is below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjbjJ2qZCAw

The Republican strategy of the past two years has been to force Obama over to the left so that he could only pass left-wing legislation or center-left legislation without the grace of a bipartisan support. They won. They made him into a lefty. That's what they wanted to do. How do you teach them that they better not do that again? How do you make Republicans as an institution, not as voters, but as an institution, to say you cannot win by screwing the other side and making it into the worst cartoon of itself?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The thing is, he isn't. He is serious and almost as delusional as the President. The President's policies were to blame, but only because the Republicans forced him to the left and made his legislation more liberal than the country could handle? Maybe someone should tell Chris that they were in control of both houses and capable of proposing and passing basically anything they wanted for the past two years. If the legislation had been anything but far left, Olympia Snowe and her sort would've considered jumping on board. That was not the plan. Compromise was never considered. They pushed it through the House and refused to let the Senate fix it, in a bipartisan way. They deserve what they got on Tuesday and no one is to blame but themselves.

What a buffoon. He will eventually go as far as Dan Rather in his political zealousness and be shown the door. I predict it will happen in 2012 as he desperately attempts to get Obama re-elected to ensure at least an intermittent furrowing, thrill and maybe even a tingle.

Update:  It appears Keith Olberman beat Matthews to Dan Rather's fate. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20021940-503544.html

83% Think House Will Repeal Obamacare

A new poll shows that voters believe the 2011 Republican-controlled House of Representatives will vote to repeal the unpopular national health care law. Specifically, 83% of likely voters think it is at least somewhat likely that the House will vote to repeal it while 12% say a vote to repeal is not very or not at all likely. The same poll found that 59% of those who voted favor the House to repeal it. I hope the people prevail and force Obama to stop insulting us by insisting it was a necessary, emergency measure and not his pet project.  http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/252576/krauthammers-take-nro-staff

Health Care Vote Sinks Most Dems

So, I may have been right on the money with my House prediction of 65 when the races become finalized, but I was off in the Senate by at least three. All in all, it was still a very good night as most of the Democrats I care for the least were sent packing.

President Obama can say last night was all about the economy if he chooses, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/03/obama-addresses-nation-democrats-lose-house/ and it very well might have been to a very limited degree. However, the fact is, we all know the voting came down to the health care bill as those who supported it, were largely defeated.  Here is a list:

Tom Perriello (VA)

Glenn Nye (VA)

Suzanne Kosmas (FL)

Alan Grayson (FL)

Baron Hill (IN)

Carol Shea-Porter (NH) 

Allen Boyd (FL) 

Kathy Dahlkemper (PA)

Chris Carney (PA)

Paul Kanjorski (PA)

Blanche Lincoln (AR)

Ron Klein (FL)

Debbie Halvorson (IL)
Phil Hare (IL)
Mark Schauer (MI)
Jim Oberstar (MN)
Dina Titus (NV)
John Hall (NY)
Bob Etheridge (NC)
Mary Jo Kilroy (OH)
Zack Space (OH)
Patrick Murphy (PA)
John Spratt (SC)
Steve Kagen (WI)
Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-1)
Harry Mitchell (AZ)
John Salazar (CO)
Bill Foster (IL)
Earl Pomeroy (ND)
Charlie Wilson (OH)
Ciro Rodriguez (TX)

Even a single Republican, Joseph Cao (LA), lost as a result of voting "yes" on the bill in November even though he changed his vote when the bill returned in March.

Dems Hunker Down

The most 'open, honest, ethical congress in history' has been a failure on all three fronts. It's ironic that the Democratic majority that came in with such a bang four years ago is going out with a whimper behind closed doors.

Let's hope they stay behind closed doors so the GOP can unwind their big government socialistic healthcare debacle.

The Ones to Watch According to Poll Closings

Poll Closings in Eastern Daylight Time:

7:00 pm:

Indiana

Kentucky

South Carolina

Georgia
Mississippi

Virginia

Vermont

7:30 pm:

Ohio
North Carolina

West Virginia

8:00 pm:

Alabama
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia

Florida 

Illinois
Kansas
Maine

Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
New Hampshire
New Jersey
Oklahoma

Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Tennessee

8:30 pm:

Arkansas

9:00 pm:

Arizona

California
Colorado
Louisiana
Minnesota
Nebraska
New Mexico

New York

Oregon
South Dakota

Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Texas

10:00 pm:

Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa

Nevada

North Dakota

1:00 am: 

Alaska