44 - Politics and Policy in Obama's Washington - January 23, 2011

Senate Republicans renew balanced-budget push

The push for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution gained support this week as two groups of Republicans introduced proposed amendments in the Senate, with at least one senator tying a balanced budget to a vote on raising the debt ceiling.

By Felicia Sonmez | January 28, 2011; 4:39 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (64)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Joe Biden: Onion spoof is 'hilarious'

Vice President Joe Biden addressed the wildly popular spoofs of him in the faux-newspaper The Onion during an interview with Anna Robertson of Yahoo! News released Friday.

By Matt DeLong | January 28, 2011; 3:59 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
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Heritage Foundation: Gay group is a factor in CPAC pullout

When the Heritage Foundation first announced that it was pulling out of this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, the conservative institution was quick to say that the controversy over the inclusion of gay Republican group GOProud had nothing to do with it.

By Rachel Weiner | January 28, 2011; 12:54 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (29)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Eye on 2012, Haley Barbour, John Thune, Mitch Daniels, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty
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Eric Cantor's trip to Davos canceled by snow

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) got his share of snow this week -- but maybe not the kind he had been expecting.

By Felicia Sonmez | January 28, 2011; 12:43 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (14)
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Michelle Obama: 'I'll be right there' on 2012 campaign trail

First lady Michelle Obama, who dusted off her campaign playbook in 2010 to help Democrats...

By Nia-Malika Henderson | January 28, 2011; 9:35 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
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Six GOP freshmen to sit on Senate Appropriations; Dems also announce committee lineups

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) announced Thursday that six newly-elected Republican senators have won seats on the Senate Appropriations Committee, a sign that GOP leaders are seeking to bring fresh voices to the spending panel as part of their party's push for greater fiscal responsibility.

By Felicia Sonmez | January 27, 2011; 2:51 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
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YouTube interviews President Obama

President Obama will take to YouTube at 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday to take questions submitted by the public. The event, moderated by YouTube's news and politics chief Steve Grove, is expected to last 45 minutes.

By Matt DeLong | January 27, 2011; 2:12 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Barack Obama, White House
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At first Senate Tea Party Caucus meeting, lawmakers take jabs at Obama

Three Republican lawmakers kicked off the first meeting of the Senate Tea Party Caucus Thursday morning, vowing to about 150 supporters in a campaign-style event to stage a showdown on the debt ceiling and remain true to the movement's values - and landing some sharp blows against President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

By Felicia Sonmez | January 27, 2011; 1:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (114)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Obama's motorcade plows through D.C. (photos)

If your commute was bad heading into and out of Washington, D.C. yesterday, you can take comfort in the fact that the President of the United States was slogging through it right along with you.

By Emi Kolawole | January 27, 2011; 9:56 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (18)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Harry Reid tells Obama he's 'wrong' on earmarks and should 'back off' (video)

Senate majority leader Harry Reid (Nev.) has a message for the president when it comes to his call for earmark elimination: "Back off."

By Emi Kolawole | January 27, 2011; 6:56 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (43)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Capitol Briefing
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Sarah Palin turns Obama's 'Win the future' into 'WTF' (video)

Former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin responded to the president's State of the Union address during an appearance on Fox News' "On the Record," turning the president's "Win the future" catchphrase into the acronym "WTF."

By Emi Kolawole | January 27, 2011; 6:40 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (111)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Eye on 2012
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Senate Democrats: House GOP budget plan would cost 1 million jobs

Senate Democrats Wednesday seized on a proposal by a group of conservative Republicans that would cut spending by as much as $2.5 trillion over ten years, arguing that the plan would cost one million jobs.

By Felicia Sonmez | January 26, 2011; 4:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (54)
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House votes to do away with public financing of presidential campaigns

The House on Wednesday passed a measure that would put an end to public financing of presidential campaigns and national political conventions, the latest Republican-led effort to bring down the deficit by reining in government spending.

By Felicia Sonmez | January 26, 2011; 3:41 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
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Dennis Kucinich sues House cafeteria over olive pit

Courthouse News Service reports that Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is suing several companies affiliated with a House office building cafeteria for $150,000 for negligence over an "unfit and unwholesome" sandwich wrap he purchased in April 2008 that contained an olive pit.

By Matt DeLong | January 26, 2011; 2:55 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (159)
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State of the Union: Top five reactions from inside Statuary Hall

There was plenty of reaction to be had on the airwaves and online following President Obama's State of the Union address last night. But some of the most intriguing responses came from inside Statuary Hall, which sits just outside the House chamber and has traditionally served as the post-State of the Union "spin room." Here's a little of what we learned inside the hall last night:

By Felicia Sonmez | January 26, 2011; 11:53 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Michele Bachmann delivers tea-party response to State of the Union

Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann delivered her own rebuttal of President Obama's State of the Union address following the Republican Party's official response, which was delivered by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

By Felicia Sonmez | January 25, 2011; 11:14 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (64)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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State of the Union 2011: Grousing from oil, enviro lobbyists suggests Obama found center

If President Obama was looking for the political (or policy) center in his State of the Union address, there was an early sign that he may have succeeded - with rumblings of dissatisfaction coming quickly Tuesday night from environmentalists and oil lobbyists alike.

By Peter Wallsten | January 25, 2011; 10:58 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
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State of the Union 2011: reactions

We're gathering reactions to President Obama's State of the Union from across the political spectrum.

By Rachel Weiner | January 25, 2011; 10:35 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Barack Obama
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State of the Union 2011: Guest Kathy Proctor relishes the moment: 'That's me!'

Kathy Proctor, a 55-year-old student at Forsyth Technical Community College, was very excited to be mentioned in President Obama's State of the Union address. "That's me!" she happily told the people to her right and left. Gawker has the video.

By Rachel Weiner | January 25, 2011; 10:05 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Barack Obama
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State of the Union 2011: Obama address takes a page -- the title page -- from Gingrich

This could be a big night for Newt Gingrich, or at least for his book sales. White House officials have been titling President Obama's State of the Union speech "Winning the Future" - precisely the name of a 2005 book by Gingrich.

By Peter Wallsten | January 25, 2011; 7:30 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
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State of the Union 2011: Paul Ryan responds that government spending needs to stop

In his response to President Obama's State of the Union tonight, Rep. Paul Ryan will argue that government interventions will lead only to America's decline.

By Rachel Weiner | January 25, 2011; 7:28 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (51)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Barack Obama
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What's a 'Sputnik moment'?

President Obama will call this tenuous time in America "our generation's Sputnik moment" in his State of the Union address Tuesday night. So what is that suppose to mean?

By Scott Wilson | January 25, 2011; 7:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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House votes to cut spending to 2008 levels

Hours before President Obama's State of the Union address, the House on Tuesday approved a resolution that would cut federal spending to 2008 levels for the rest of the fiscal year, a largely symbolic move aimed at underscoring Republicans' commitment to fiscal responsibility.

By Felicia Sonmez and Paul Kane | January 25, 2011; 6:25 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (20)
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Nancy Pelosi declines Eric Cantor's State of the Union invitation -- via Twitter

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday rebuffed Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-Va.) invitation to sit together at the State of the Union address, informing the Republican lawmaker -- via Twitter -- that she had already accepted an invitation from another colleague from across the aisle, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.).

By Felicia Sonmez | January 25, 2011; 1:39 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (34)
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Six members of the Supreme Court to attend SOTU

Six of the nine Supreme Court justices will attend President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, the court confirmed Tuesday.

By Robert Barnes | January 25, 2011; 10:34 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (28)
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Tim Pawlenty on Bachmann's planned State of the Union rebuttal: 'It's cool'

Former Minnesota governor and Republican presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty gave an interview to CNN's Peter Hamby on Monday, weighing in on Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-Minn.) plan to deliver her own rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union address.

By Emi Kolawole | January 25, 2011; 9:50 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (26)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency, Eye on 2012
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Ed Rendell joins NBC News as political analyst

NBC News has announced that former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell will be the network's newest political analyst, following the departure of prime-time MSNBC host Keith Olbermann.

By Emi Kolawole | January 25, 2011; 8:26 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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White House: Obama believes Rahm Emanuel can run for mayor

White House senior adviser Valerie Jarret appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" Tuesday with some insight as to where the President stands regarding his former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's having been booted from the Chicago mayoral ticket by an appellate court ruling.

By Emi Kolawole | January 25, 2011; 8:22 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (20)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Scalia's closed-door session with lawmakers proves light on politics, attendees say

When Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) announced that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia would visit the Capitol to discuss the Constitution at a closed-door meeting sponsored by the House Tea Party Caucus, some argued that the conservative justice had crossed too far into the world of politics and had abandoned his neutrality by aligning himself with a group of right-leaning lawmakers.

By Felicia Sonmez | January 24, 2011; 9:39 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: 44 The Obama Presidency
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Carol Browner to quit Obama administration

Carol Browner, an adviser to President Obama on environmental issues, plans to leave the White House, an administration official said Monday night.

By Anne E. Kornblut and Steven Mufson | January 24, 2011; 9:07 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (43)
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The State of the Union is ________. Tell us in one word (#mysotu)

As we prepare to see what Obama has to say during his second state of the union address, we wonder how YOU would complete that sentence: Our state of the union is _________. Tweet us with #mysotu and we'll gather your responses here.

By Amanda Zamora | January 24, 2011; 8:12 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (48)
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State of the Union: First lady Michelle Obama's guests

The White House released Monday the guest list for the first lady's box at Tuesday's State of the Union address. As expected, it includes a number of people connected to the Jan. 8 shootings in Tucson.

By Matt DeLong | January 24, 2011; 8:03 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (24)
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Eric Cantor: Paul Ryan, not Michele Bachmann, delivering official GOP State of the Union response

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Monday emphasized that the official Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday will be delivered by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), not Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).

By Felicia Sonmez | January 24, 2011; 4:47 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Stick a fork in it; House composting program done

Less than a month into their tenure controlling the House, Republicans have scrapped a small but symbolically important element of the "Green the Capitol" initiative that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) installed when she was Speaker. Specifically, they're trashing Pelosi's compostable forks and food trays.

By Ben Pershing | January 24, 2011; 4:35 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: 44 Native, Capitol Briefing | Tags: house administration; house composting; green the capitol; dan lungren
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Verrilli to be nominated as Solicitor General

President Obama intends to nominate White House official Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. as Solicitor...

By Jerry Markon | January 24, 2011; 3:58 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
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State of the Union: President Wilson leaves 'official Washington agape' in 1913

From deep within the Washington Post archives, here's an article dated April 7, 1913 describing President Woodrow Wilson's decision to bring back the "long-abandoned custom" of personally presenting his ideas to Congress in the form of a State of the Union address.

By Matt DeLong | January 24, 2011; 2:10 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
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44: January 23, 2011 - January 29, 2011