Monthly Archives: July 2010

Rangel Trial Will Focus on Corporate Favors From Tax Committee, Former Chairman Sought $30 Million Donations

February 2009, the President and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) are shown in the East Room of the White House. In the center is the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA). This was Rangel's highpoint. The next month he would lose his Chairmanship of the most influential committee on Capitol Hill.


The House Ethics Committee yesterday released an in-depth report on its 21-month investigation into the financial dealings of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY). Rangel is the former Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, and the report describes how he used that role to request contributions of $30 million a piece from many of the nations top corporations. The recipient was his vanity project at City College of New York (CCNY) which was intended to be similar to a presidential library. Continue reading →

Tabloid Photos Bring Back Angelina Jolie's Troubled Past, But Her Message is Inspirational

The tabloid has published the old photos for the first time, and this is one of the less controversial shots. Jolie appears to be crying. The actress has already admitted she had a troubled past.


A tabloid has just published nude and provocative photos of Angelina Jolie, the Academy Award winning international superstar. The photos were taken years before she became famous, and what they all have in common is that the actress looks desperately unhappy. Continue reading →

Legislative and Political Update: Obama’s OMB Director Defends Bush

 

Tomorrow is the last day for OMB Director Peter Orszag, 40. He is moving to NYC to join the staff of the Council on Foreign Relations. In September he will be married to ABC Weekend Good Morning America co-host Bianna Golodryga, 31. Orszag says history will vindicate former President Bush’s TARP decision.

IN THIS REPORT: Elena Kagan, Disclose, Health Care Reform, Stimulus, Rangel Investigation, and updates from Alaska, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.
2010 ELECTION: Over two-thirds of new Democrats elected in 2006 and 2008 are now listed as vulnerable. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will be spending $28 million on TV ads in these 40 House Districts. Many of the lawmakers are trying to distance themselves from the national Democratic Party. For example, an ad for Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) says “I’m not Obama; I’m not Harry Reid; and I’m not Nancy Pelosi. I’m Dina Titus and I’ve been there for you every day.”
TODAY IN HISTORY: In 1975: Gerald Ford became the first President to visit the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. In 1958, President Eisenhower signed legislation which created NASA. NASA was formed nine months after the Soviets beat the U.S. into space by launching Sputnik, the first satellite.
STIMULUS: Peter Orszag, the outgoing Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), spoke at the liberal Brookings Institute yesterday. He had to endure criticism from the left regarding his signature issue, the $787 billion stimulus. Conservatives attack the stimulus for not being effective in job creation while the left was blasting it yesterday for not being large enough.
Orszag said it was not politically feasible in early 2009 to further increase the size of the stimulus. Orszag was a Brookings Fellow before becoming Director of the Congressional Budget Office when Democrats took over the Congress in January of 2007. When asked if the Bush administration’s TARP program was successful, he said the results were not debatable. He claims it saved the American banking system and avoided a depression.
ELENA KAGAN: President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court has now been endorsed by four Republicans: Senators Olympia Snowe (ME), Lindsey Graham (SC), Susan Collins (ME) and Richard Lugar. (IN). No Democrat is expected to oppose Kagan.
DISCLOSE: The Democrats campaign reform act, which they call Disclose, was defeated on Tuesday night when they were unable to break a filibuster. The bill passed the House last month by a 219 to 206 margin.
Disclose is an attempt to legislatively overturn the Supreme Court’s 5 to 4 decision in January that allows corporations and unions to spend freely on campaign ads and “electioneering communication.” Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, will today introduce a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling.
HEALTH CARE REFOM: President Obama is trying to reassure seniors who are abandoning the Democrats in significant numbers. The President says “First and foremost, what you need to know is that the guaranteed medicare benefits you’ve earned will not change, regardless of whether you receive them through Medicare, or Medicare Advantage.”
The Congressional Budget Office disagrees and says on average, Medicare Advantage enrollees will get $68 less a month in benefits by 2019 because of the law. The payment cuts to Medicare Advantage begin in 2012.
RANGEL INVESTIGATION: The House Ethics Committee will today make public a “Statement of Alleged Violations” against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), the former Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Rangel said yesterday he is still in negotiations with the Committee regarding a deal to address the charges, but it is doubtful a settlement will be reached. Any deal would require the support of at least one Republican.
If no deal is made, a trial will be held in September. Three Democrats have now called for Rangel’s resignation: Reps. Betty Sutton (OH), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ) and Walt Minnick (ID). More Democrats are expected to come forward after the report is released today.
ALASKA: A poll measuring approval ratings has former Gov. Sarah Palin in last place, but she still doing far better than many Democrats. The results were: former Sen. Ted Stevens 79% favorable; Sen. Lisa Murkowski 73%; Gov. Sean Parnell 72%; Rep. Don Young 57% and Sarah Palin 56%. They are all Republicans.
ILLINOIS: Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (D) has a 37% approval rating while 47% disapprove. Only 31% of voters want to see him re-elected to a 7th term. If Daley does retire, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has said he would like to seek the office. Daley has been in office since 1989 and the Democratic primary is seven months away.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: There was both good news and bad news for Attorney General Kelly Ayotte regarding her recent endorsement from former Gov. Sarah Palin. It has definitely helped her with social conservatives and has enhanced her lead in the Republican primary for this open U.S. Senate seat. She now has a 47% to 14% primary lead. The bad news is that it is not helping in the general election. Ayotte’s lead over Rep. Paul Hodes (D) has declined from 15% to 8%. Ayotte’s unfavorable rating went from 13% to 27%.
MISSOURI: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) is campaigning in St. Louis this weekend for Rep. Roy Blunt who is seeking the GOP Senate nomination. Blunt, the former GOP House Whip, faces State Sen. Chuck Purgason in the primary. Tea Party groups have endorsed Purgason because Blunt voted for former President George W. Bush’s TARP program. Purgason has endorsed by 28 Tea Party groups and “Joe the Plumber” (Samuel Wurzelbacher), but has raised $32,000 compared to Blunt’s $8.2 million.
MINNESOTA: Speaking of Bachmann, the Chairwoman of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus, and her challenger, State Sen. Tarryl Clark (D), are on track to raise $7 million which will make this the most expensive House race in the nation during the 2010 cycle.
OREGON: Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) is stepping down because of term limits, and former two term Gov. John Kitzhaber was expected to reclaim this office. Kitzhaber is a medical doctor and is continuing to run behind the GOP’s Chris Dudley who is well known from his years with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazer’s. Republicans have raised more money than Democrats, and they have been surprised Kitzhaber has not been more aggressive in the campaign. The GOP is now leading by three points in the polls.
PENNSYLVANIA: Republicans have high hopes in six Congressional Districts but with less then 100 days before the election, Democrats continue to have a sizable fundraising advantage. Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), the nominee for Arlen Specter’s Senate seat, has requested a campaign appearance from First Lady Michelle Obama.
Sestak says he would prefer to have Michelle rather than Barack Obama. Sestak is advocating a 15% tax cut for small businesses and says “My party has to understand ‘business’ is a good word.” Sestak claims to be an independent Democrat, but an ad sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says he voted with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) 100 percent of the time.
He responded by saying his staff never even looks at talking points passed down from the Speaker’s office. Sestak was successful in having many TV stations stop running the ads when he demonstrated he had voted against the Speaker on the DISCLOSE Campaign Finance Act.
WASHINGTON: The White House confirmed yesterday the President will make his first visit to Washington State on August 17th where he will appear at a fundraiser for vulnerable Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). Former State Sen. Dino Rossi (R) is ahead of her by 3 points in the July 14th Rasmussen Poll.
Washington State is solidly in Blue America, but as the polls indicate, sentiments is shifting this year. 2010 is expected to be a wave election that will alter the composition of the Congress.
In 1994, former Speaker Newt Gingrich said the state was “ground zero” in that year’s Republican Revolution when six Democratic seats in Washington were won by Republicans. The losers included the then Speaker of the House, Tom Foley, and President Clinton’s appearances were not able to hold back the GOP avalanche.

Why We Need to Kill The Death Tax

Whitemarsh Hall outside of Philadelphia was constructed in 1921 by J.P. Morgan's partner, Edward T. Stotesbury. It was then America's fifth largest home, and his other residences were "El Mirasol," the first Spanish style mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, and Wingwood House, his 80 room “cottage” in Bar Harbor, Maine. Stotesbury's 150 servants rotated between various residences and maintained his private railroad car, yacht and fleet of luxury automobiles. Whitemarsh Hall was over 100,000 square feet, and it had 147 rooms, 24 fireplaces, three elevators with access to six different levels (three below, three above), a movie theater, barber shop and wine cellar that remained fully stocked through out Prohibition.


The death tax is now back on top of the legislative agenda. As part of George W. Bush’s 2001 tax cut, the estate tax was reduced gradually and this year it is zero. The death duties will go back into effect next January unless Congress acts, and the old 55% rate will return. Continue reading →

Campaign 2010: 100 Days Left, GOP Has High Hopes but Many Races are Too Close to Call

There are now 100 days left before the 2010 election. The polls continue to be favorable for Republicans, but many key races are in the toss-up category. If the election were held today, the GOP would pick up at least six seats in the U.S. Senate, 11 Governors, 26 seats in the House of Representatives, and control of an additional 8 state legislative chambers. Continue reading →

The Tea Party and the New GOP Contract

House Republican Leader John Boehner (OH) is continuing to advocate a new GOP manifesto. A name has not been selected but the document is expected to be similar to the 1994 Contract With America, which was developed by then House Whip Newt Gingrich (R-GA). The original Contract was the focal point of a campaign which resulted in Republican capture of both the House and Senate. Continue reading →

Patriots or Extremists? Some Conservative Rhetoric Goes Too Far

 

We have many conservative friends and we definitely sympathize with their opposition to the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress. The situation confronting our nation is serious and we should be alarmed.
There is nothing wrong in being passionate about your beliefs, and we admire people who are involved in public policy and engage in debate. The problem is that some of our Facebook friends (i.e. Tamara Heater, Ed Wyatt, Keith L. Burroughs, etc.) make highly disturbing and offensive comments.
Our efforts to encourage people to tone down their rhetoric, and to avoid curse words as well as racial and ethnic slurs, have not been successful. We try not to be judgmental and our first amendment guarantee of freedom of speech is vital.
We do not want to censor anyone, but in some situations we are compelled to act. Reducing high voltage language allows your intelligence to shine through.
Profane language is not profound, and people swear and attack ethnic and minority groups when they are out of control. It does not bother us if people disagree with our viewpoint, but some comments cross the line.
Tonight’s example is Keith Burrough who is admired by several of my friends. Keith and I are both conservatives but we often disagree. He is not bashful about expressing his sentiments on my Wall, and a few hours ago he posted this message:

Sometimes my FB friends say I am too hard on libbies, Towel Head and other idiots I commonly refer to in my posts. Even sometimes I’m a bigot about religion. Folks, God is clear in His plan for our salvation. You must get on one side of the fence here, there ain’t no straddlin it. No, I’m not too hard on folk, to say the least.

In response, Keith has received many supportive messages, but we do not approve of his inflammatory language. We share his opposition to President Obama’s agenda, and he describes himself as a “100% Christian.”
We have plenty of issues to debate forcefully in this campaign, and there is no need to resort to extremism. Hundreds of times, Keith has described President Obama as a “towel head.” He also calls the President, “Muzlum freako,” “a gay commie pinko,” “half breed prez,” “the Towel Head who favors communism,” “an idol worshiping tyrant who isn’t even from this country.”
Keith is also concerned about:

    • The loss of ‘white rights’ began with Abe Lincoln. I can’t stand the thought of that scum bag, he killed my white forefathers needlessly.’
    • Today, with a muslim communist Towel Head at the helm we are losing our rights at an alarming pace.
    • Will the day come again when white America takes back this country as we originally took it? Will it have to go that far? What is it going to take for white rights to be recognized?
    • Extreme am I? You might be too when your free country is declared a nation of Islam by our Towel Head pres. and Eric Holder. Are you ready to get down on your knees in the mosque when Muslim Towel Head in Chief declares us a nation of Islam?
    • What brand and color of towel will you brandish and wear when the Muslim Towel Head declares Islam the New Order for the U.S.?
    • Joe Blow Biden, you murdering skunk, give new meaning to term stupid. You be plain dumb boy, on your knee pads to Towel Head.
  • His friends describe Martin Luther King “as a piece of dirt. He never worked for improvement of black/white relations – that’s just the myth. He was a front man for the globalist War on Whites. It’s a travesty for White people have to pay for national celebrations for a man who was a Communist and helped pave the way for minimal White participation in running a gov’t of a country founded by and for Whites.”

We completely understand why the wise Aimee Masters wrote to Keith and said:

It’s bigots like you, who use the words “Towel Head” that need to be added to the list of those who need help. Don’t pretend to love God when you speak so harshly of His creations. If you truly wanted these people to be prayed for you would have chosen your words in a loving manner.

Comments I find disturbing from other Facebook members are:

  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is a murderer and doesn’t deserve to live! The DEATH penalty is still applicable in CA as far as I know. I still want a retard to rape her before executing this slut. Get out of my country you piece of shit. I am sick and tired of her.
  • The PRESIDENT of the United States who is DELIBERATELY and knowingly DESTROYING America!!!! In my book, he’s a TRAITOR, an ILLEGAL ALIEN. But NEVER an American. REVOLUTION NOW, GODDAMMIT!!! I hope we can undo what this bastard has done to our country. Then we can throw him out of America, and put him somewhere in Africa for the carnivores.
  • Blacks and latinos are parasites on those of us who work hard. They all voted for Mama Bama because they know he’ll give them free handouts while they breed like fleas. They take, take, take until we’re a nation of peasants. This is why they were enslaved in the first place, it was a no-brainer that if we granted them freedom, this is exactly what would happen.
  • Get rid of the f–king Jews from the USA and you will get rid of Arab desire to destroy good Americans. Your Jew loving ways will destroy you. Send em home and let em fight their own battles. We don’t care about the Middle East.
  • Geez, that’s a surprise. The majority of Latinos support government healthcare. Isn’t it what they have back home, in their banana republics? And isn’t it what they want… Everything for FREE? So they think… They are idiot morons.

We are also disappointed in former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) who ran for President in 2008. He is now planning to run for Governor of Colorado on the Constitution Party ticket and we will be surprised if the Democrats do not win.
Tancredo says we should “send Obama back to Kenya.” The former Congressman continues to say the United States should bomb the Muslim holy sites in Mecca and Medina if another militant terrorist attack happens on American soil.
Tancredo does not see a distinction between a small group of militants from the rest of the one billion plus Muslims worldwide who want peace. We should not be attacking an entire religious population with followers living around the globe.
There are militants in many faiths. A few extremist Christians have bombed abortion clinics. No one suggested bombing Christian holy sites in Jerusalem as a retaliation. It is always wrong to stir up religious hatred.

Legislative and Political Update: In Major Policy Shift, Democrats Will Extend Bush Tax Cuts

 

Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN), Joe Lieberman (CT) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) were among lawmakers discussing merits of extending the Bush tax cuts. Lieberman advocates it for the middle class, but Bayh, Nelson and Kent Conrad (D-ND) want all of the tax cuts extended. The liberal website Daily Kos said “Conrad, Bayh, and Nelson are whores for the wealthy.” If Democrats “extend those tax cuts for the wealthy, unions will be gone, progressives will be gone.”

IN THIS REPORT JournoList Scandal, Inside The RNC, Estate Taxes, Anti-War Conservatives, Netroots Nation, Abolishing the Republican Party, and reports from Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, North Dakota and West Virginia.
JOURNOLIST SCANDAL: The JournoList story remained at the top of the news all week. The importance for the right wing is the confirmation it provides of liberal bias in the news media. There would be few complaints if the JournoList participants were all editorial writers. However, members of this group were reporters who supposedly were providing an unbiased accounting of events.
Sarah Palin called them “sick puppies” after it was revealed they were trying to generate attacks on her in the summer of 2008. They were sharing ideas on how to damage her candidacy before she gave her first speech.
Now these journalists admit their goal was to attack her, and their ideas dominated the media in the Fall of 2008. In the past these “progressive journalists” claimed they did not let their political allegiances influence their reporting, but that will be hard to claim in the future.
Tucker Carlson of Daily Caller writes:

We discovered members of JournoList working to coordinate talking points on behalf of Democratic politicians, principally Barack Obama. That is not journalism, and those who engage in it are not journalists. They should stop pretending to be. The news organizations they work for should stop pretending, too.

HUFFINGTON POST: David Bourgeois’ current article is entitled “Why The Republican Party Must be Abolished.” Bourgeois is a contributor to New York magazine and the Village Voice, and says:

The GOP has not just become the Party of No, it’s become an example of how a party shouldn’t run the country. Republican leaders in the House and Senate have worked dubiously in the past two years to keep Americans unemployed and the economy stagnant. This isn’t pundit bloviating, simply a fact. . . Obama, in the eyes of Congressional Republicans, can do nothing right. It doesn’t deserve to lead. The GOP should implode, become a marginal party on the fringes of American society like the Libertarian Party or the LaRouche movement.

Another Bourgeois article is entitled: “Democrats on Track to Increase Congressional Majority Come November: Sean Hannity on Suicide Watch.”
WORLD NET DAILY: This popular website is best known for the attention it devotes to President Obama’s birth certificate. WND readers describe themselves as “very conservative,” but editor Joseph Farah is now advocating foreign policy views which are usually heard on the left.
He wants the United States to pull out of both Iraq and Afghanistan. In his current column, Farah says:

For the life of me, I cannot begin to understand our objectives in either Iraq or Afghanistan any more. Because I appreciate the sacrifice our men and women are making over there, it is with a heavy heart that I make this proclamation. But enough is enough. . . I’m just stunned by how little debate is raging in America over these quagmires. Where is the anti-war movement when we really need them? I admit I was a supporter of both of these campaigns. I was obviously wrong. The Taliban is as active today as it was in 2001. . . I know most of the U.S. troops in Iraq are scheduled to leave at the end of August. But will they come home? Will they go to Afghanistan, where the war is escalating? Will they leave as scheduled at all? No one seems to know. No one seems to care. I care. I say bring the troops home now.

REINSTATEMENT OF ESTATE TAXES: A major initiative for liberals in the months ahead will be reinstatement of the estate tax. The primary sponsors of this effort are Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) and Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA). The tax disappeared during the Bush administration but it is set to return at its pre-2001 level of 55%.
Sen. Sanders has an article in the current issue of The Nation entitled “No To Oligarchy.”
It is about his recently introduced “Responsible Estate Tax Act” (S.3533) which he claims will raise $318 billion from the wealthy. Sanders is a self-described democratic socialist, and is the first person elected in Senate history to identify as a socialist.
Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-SC) amendment to permanently repeal it failed last week by a 59 to 39 vote. DeMint says reinstatement will cost 500,000 jobs. He made that claim based on a study by the former director of the Congressional Budget Office.
DeMint also discussed a study demonstrating that permanently repealing the death tax could create 1.5 million jobs. Sen. Sanders neglects to mention that the death tax often forces families to sell businesses, DeMint claims.
Many of these families do not have enough cash to pay the tax, and studies described how the owners of small business such as gas stations are forced to sell. These businesses provide them with a middle class living, but their wealth is tied up in the assets that generate their annual income.
NETROOTS NATION: This annual convention of liberal bloggers is now meeting in Las Vegas and 2,100 activists are in attendance. In discussing their strategy for this year, Netroots founder Markos Moulitsas said:

My motto in 2002 when I first started was “More Democrats” because we were in the minority. Now we have big majorities and we’re realizing that big majorities aren’t really the solution to the lack of effective governance in this country. So we’ve evolved from “More Democrats” to “Better Democrats.”
We’ve realized that we can upgrade. We can either take out incumbents in primaries and push some of them in to early retirement, or if they know they’re going to have a primary, get them to alter their behavior. Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) is an example of someone who was terrible, but when she got a primary challenge that was half-way credible, she got a lot better. And that’s what he want to see. Even Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) got a lot better.

INSIDE THE RNC: Several publications are reporting that former Sen. Norm Coleman (MN) is planning to challenge Michael Steele’s re-election as Chairman of the Republican National Committee next January. On CNN yesterday with Wolf Blitzer and James Carville, Coleman said “We’re not going to talk about that now.” He then proceeded to talk about it.
Steele defeated incumbent RNC Chairman Mike Duncan on sixth ballot in January of 2009 by a vote of 91 to 77. Steele is in hot water for suggesting U.S. troops should not be in Afghanistan. Bush political adviser Karl Rove called Steele’s comment “boneheaded,” and Liz Cheney said he should resign.
Coleman was a frequent target of anti-war activists in liberal Minnesota. He was one of three GOP Senators who opposed the Bush surge in Iraq, and lost to Sen. Al Franken (D) by only 312 votes. If a third party libertarian candidate had not been in the race, Coleman would have been re-elected in 2008.
Republican National Committeeman David Norcross, 73, is stepping down at the RNC meeting next month. In 1976 he was the GOP nominee who unsuccessfully challenged the fourth term of liberal Sen. Harrison Williams (D).
Williams later wished Norcross had defeated him because he became the first Senator in 80 years to be sent to federal prison. Norcross is Chairman of the RNC’s Rules Committee, and previously served as NJ GOP Chairman, RNC General Counsel and head of the Arrangements Committee at the 2004 Convention.
FLORIDA: PPP today has a survey on Sen. Bill Nelson’s (D-FL) 2012 re-election race. Nelson has 46% compared to former Gov. Jeb Bush’s (R) 44%. Nelson has a huge 49% to 28% lead over appointed Sen. George LeMieux (R). Jeb Bush has never expressed an interest in a Senate race, and LeMieux hasd high negatives among Republicans because of his association with Gov. Charlie Crist.
ILLINOIS: Former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D) of Chicago, who served from 1958 to 1994, is seriously ill with cancer. For 14 years he was chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. On September 26, 1960, Rostenkowski was in the CBS studio in Chicago to view in person the first ever televised Presidential debate between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
Unaware of the stark differences on camera, Rostenkowski later said “I was under the impression Kennedy lost the debate.”
The book Chicago and the American Century describes how he secured billions of dollars for his city and state. In 1996, Rostenkowski, 82, pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and was sentenced to 17 months in prison.
KENTUCKY: In a Braun Research poll out yesterday, Rand Paul (R) has a 41% to 38% lead over liberal Attorney General Jack Conway (D). Conway defeated moderate Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo (D) in the primary, and the GOP should be grateful Conway won.
Mongiardo came within 1% of winning this seat six years ago, and according to the Braun Poll, Conway is being supported by only 55% of Democrats. Rand Paul has reversed himself on several issues, and has now endorsed Mitch McConnell (KY) to continue as the Senate Republican Leader.
MISSOURI: The St. Louis Post Dispatch poll for the open U.S. Senate seat gives the GOP a small lead. The survey was conducted between July 19-21 , and it gives Rep. Roy Blunt (R) a 48% to 42% lead over Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D).
Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO), the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has a difficult re-election campaign against State Sen. Bill Stouffer (R). Skelton, 78, has a large cash advantage and is a 17 term incumbent. He avoided President Obama’s recent visit to Kansas City. Chuck Todd of NBC says if Skelton loses it means Republicans will take control of the House.
NEW JERSEY: The national outlook for Republicans is excellent, but a few of the districts they once emphasized have now been removed from their target list. Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) carried the 6th district last November, and various rating agencies had listed it as “Leans Democratic.”
That has now been shifted to “Solid Democrat” because there was an upset in the GOP primary. Tea Party endorsed candidate Anna Little won by just 84 votes, but has not been successful in raising money. Little has $16,000 in cash on hand compared to the $4.1 million held by Rep. Frank Pallone (D).
NORTH DAKOTA: The election is four months away, but Republicans have already scored a big win. Liberal Sen. Byron Dorgan (R) and his seat will easily be captured by Gov. John Hoeven (R). For the past six months Congressman Earl Pomeroy (D) has been trailing State Rep. Rick Berg (R), who has a 7 percent led in the most recent survey.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D), the Chairman of the Budget Committee, is not up for re-election until 2012, but he has already significantly shifted his views. He now wants to extend the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000. ”
Conrad says Congress shouldn’t allow taxes on the wealthy to rise until the economy is on a sounder footing. Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Evan Bayh (D-IN) agree with him. The Daily Kos says “Conrad, Bayh, and Nelson are whores for the wealthy.” If Democrats “extend those tax cuts for the wealthy, unions will be gone, progressives will be gone.”
WEST VIRGINIA: Former GOP State Chairman John Raese has entered the Senate race. He spent $2.2 million of his own money on his 2006 challenge to the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D). Raese admitted he has a “quirky sense of humor,” and referred to appointed Sen. Carte Goodwin (D) as “Carte Blanche.”
Raese is a mining company operator (Greer Industries) who also owns local radio stations. Former Secretary of State Betty Ireland will not be a candidate, but Raese will be challenged in the primary by State Sen. Clark Barnes. A Rasmussen Poll out yesterday gives Manchin a 51% to 35% lead over Raese.