43rd State Blues: Democracy for Ida (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
Dear Teabaggers: the last eight years called. They want their misplaced rage back. Treasured Valley: Treasure Valley blogs Hanging with Schlangen, zero my hero, rocking out, Oprah and way cool products… The Political Game: Minnick's Balancing Act Over the weekend, Sisyphus of 43rd State Blues made some very good points regarding Congressman Walt Minnick and his dwindling Democratic...
DownWithTyranny! (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
Yesterday something truly startling happened. The American people won and the Establishment lost-- IN CONGRESS. That never happens. Alan Grayson and Ron Paul teamed up and made it happen-- against the wishes of their party leaders and, more important, against the wishes of the big banks that donimate the country and finance the campaigns of most of Congress. (Which probably means the bill-- we'll get...
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analys (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
It's time to make some phone calls. It will take less than 10 minutes. Here are the Democrats who support the auditing of the fed. Rep. John Adler, NJ: (202) 225-4765 Rep. Travis Childers, MS: (202) 225-4306 Rep. Steve Driehaus, OH: (202) 225-2216 Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, TX: (202) 225-2531 Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, FL: (877) 956-7627 Rep. Dan Maffei, NY: (202) 225-3701 Rep. Brad Miller, NC: (202) 225-3032...
The Political Game (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
Over the weekend, Sisyphus of 43rd State Blues made some very good points regarding Congressman Walt Minnick and his dwindling Democratic base. Hopefully Sisyphus won't mind that I quote him extensively here, his points are more than worth repeating and succinctly illustrate the predicament Walt Minnick has created when it comes to his base. Mark Johnson has written a superb piece on this topic that...
NewWest.Net Boise (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009
It can be scary for adults to change careers, but the recession has handed many American workers no choice. Enrollment at trade schools, community colleges and specialized private colleges has increased all over the U.S. But whether or not graduates of these programs find work in their new area of competence varies based on the quality of the training, the choice of skills to learn, and whether or...
Adam's Blog (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009
Rep. Walt Minnick told the Moscow Daily-News regarding going back to Congress for another term. It’s no biggie: “I would like to go back. If I don’t, that’s not the end of the world.” (Hat Tip: The Political Game.) I wonder if Minnick told that to Barney Frank and friends when he showed up for a big political [...]
SCSUScholars (Free subscription) | 11/17/2009
The "Blue Dog" Democrats, 44 'fiscally conservative' congresspersons, did not acquit themselves well in this year, says the Heritage Foundation, via Stephen Moore : On three votes that would massively expand the size of government -- the stimulus plan, cap and trade, and health care reform -- Blue Dogs mostly were AWOL. "Of the 52 House Blue Dogs, only four voted against all three,"...
Swing State Project (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
You may remember that in the wake of the 2008 elections, I tried out a new quantitative project, developing an index for predicting vulnerability for House members based on a mix of PVI and previous House election performance. (It turned out to be pretty useful, in that 2006 numbers were pretty predictive of who actually got knocked off in 2008.) I included, of course, what the index would predict...
MyDD (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
Two weeks ago, I wrote about a GOP primary contest up in the Idaho First Congressional District that is currently represented by Walt Minnick. The GOP primary contest was interesting because it pitted an establishment candidate in Ken Roberts, the majority leader of the Idaho House versus an insurgent candidate Vaughn Ward who had received backing from the Palin family. Trailing four to one in fundraising,...
Ridenbaugh Press (Free subscription) | 11/10/2009
Ken Roberts When Democrat Walt Minnick was elected to Congress from Idaho’s 1st congressional district about a year ago, one of the scenarios for his re-election campaign went like this: Republicans would be crowding the field to take on this unlikely Democrat in 2010. The large field would mean, as happened in 2006, that the win [...]
DennisMansfield.com (Free subscription) | 11/10/2009
Setting aside the issue of abortion, US Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has always been a bit of a political hero to me. Years ago, I remember reading one of his USA Today opinion pieces on fiscal responsibility and criminal justice...
Political Partying (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
“I’ve always been focusing on making the right decisions for the people of my district, whether or not it will cost me my political future.” - Freshman Democratic Rep. John Adler (N.J.) — Freshman Democratic Rep. John Boccieri (Ohio) — Freshman Democratic Rep. Bobby Bright (Ala.) — Freshman Democratic Rep. Parker Griffith (Ala.) — Freshman Democratic Rep. Larry...
Marc Ambinder (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Note: lesson learned: always go by official roll call votes . What was once eight is now four. Call them the HVT-4. Four Democratic members of Congress have voted against the economic stimulus package, the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill and the Democratic health care reform legislation. They're the low-hanging fruit - or highest value targets - for the National Republican Congressional Committee...
Ridenbaugh Press (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Walt Minnick One more obligatory note, political, on the health care votes last night on the U.S. House floor. It was the occasion of one of Idaho Democratic Representative Walt Minnick’s tougher votes, and what he did may have some significant political repercussions. The votes may simply have been votes of conscience, in which case he [...]
Marc Ambinder (Free subscription) | 11/08/2009
First, some bonuses: = the 39 Democrats who voted against the House bill -- John Adler (NJ) Jason Altmire (PA) Brian Baird (WA) John Barrow (GA) John Boccieri (OH) Dan Boren (OK) Rick Boucher (TX) Allen Boyd (FL) Bobby Bright (AL) Ben Chandler (KY) Travis Childers, Artur Davis (AL)**, Lincoln Davis (TN) Chet Edwards (TX) Bart Gordon (TN) Parker Griffith (AL), Herseth Sandlin (SD) Tim Holden (PA) Larry...
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