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Subscribe to RSS“House Republicans left Washington on Wednesday morning for a retreat that will be focused on unifying the conference after the fractious fight over the “fiscal cliff," and preparing for upcoming policy battles,” The Hill notes. “Several sources said the annual gathering, held this year at the tony Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., would have a different tone than previous years.”
“Speaker John A. Boehner’s decision to allow a bill to pass with only 49 Republican votes Tuesday has some in his party questioning whether this is the new normal and has at the same time delighted Democrats, who believe they might be able to produce similar results in the battles ahead,” Roll Call reports.
Boehner’s not the only one in a tough spot. Harry Reid is now in one on guns, notes The Hill: “The push for gun control puts Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a tough political spot. Reid’s job is to help move President Obama’s agenda through the upper chamber, but he must also protect his five-seat Senate majority, and gun-rights groups are threatening to go after vulnerable Senate Democrats who back the president’s calls for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.”
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Another scare tactic from the gun-rights groups (aka NRA). What they'd better be focusing on is their vulnerable senate lemming republicans.
Why is it always Democrats and moderate Republicans who are said to be vulnerable to the right-wing, when polling shows most Americans take the moderate view on everything from keeping abortion legal, to supporting universal background checks. I think it's more likely the hardline Republicans are vulnerable in this fight. If we learned anything in the last election, it's women VOTE, and they don't vote right-wing on guns.
The media thought President Obama was vulnerable. We saw how that prediction worked out.
Good point Amy. There are any number of Republicans sitting at home right now because their House and Senate seats turned out to be vulnerable.
In Ohio districts, as an example, 75% of Representatives elected are GOP. If half the money the DNC spent on Obama had been spent on congressional races in Ohio at least 3 additional Democrat representatives would have been elected which would have been a 6 vote swing in the House. In my view Obama still would have carried the presidential race in Ohio since districts where GOP congressional candidates won were districts where Obama lost anyway.
The DNC put too many eggs in the Obama basket.
The guns stance by Obama yesterday will anchor all GOP representatives to the Congress for years to come, and should cause growth of GOP representation in 2014. Bucking the Second Ammendment rights held dear by over 200 million proud, voting, American gun owners will be more galvanizing than even Obamacare in 2010.
"More galvanizing"?
Since there's no evidence that Obamacare swayed a single vote in 2012 and since the GOP LOST SEATS in the House AND Senate that doesn't seem like much of a threat.
AND NO ONE IS COMING TO GET YOUR GUNS.
Can Boehner be having a relevation that the job of his members is to govern and not kowtow to the special interests? I don't have much hope of that when the majority of Americans think there should be reasonable limits on gun sales but the Repubs continue to only represent the gun industry and their crazy mouthpiece, the NRA.
Reid is ticking me off too - bring bills to the floor and let the Senators show where they stand, or let McConnell continue to obstruct with his threat of filibuster. BTW, did they change the rules so now the dolts need to actually stand on the floor for days, or are they still filibustering in absentia?
No, "unifying the conference" is shorthand for coming up with new strategies for obstruction.
Threats from the right, again? Threats from the gun nuts, again? Threats are all they seem to know? Why can't they just work together, like they ARE supposed to? The rabid right wing nuts never learn, do they? MOST of America wants this gun ban, get over your fears!!!
Someday the House of Representatives will have a Speaker that understands the job of Speaker is to preside over the Chamber's 434 other members and not to preside over one caucus or the other.
It seems that Congress can get away and nobody will notice. Considering that they are hardly in session and when they are not much gets done anyway. The leaders of each chamber aren't leading and are unwilling to compromise. The extremists have taken over and as long as they are allowed any power at all we will remain with a do nothing Congress.